Introduction to Blogging

A blog is a type of website with regular posts of either commentary, cultural events, personal events, opinions or other material such as videos or pictures. There are currently 126 million blogs on the internet.


The most popular blogging site is Blogger.com. It was started in August of 1999. They were bought out by Google in February of 2003. It was ranked number 16 on the list of Top 50 Domains in 2007.

Many here have blogged in their lifetime. Many sites such as Myspace and facebook have places where you can blog within them, but there are sites dedicated to only blogging. A blog is pretty much the on-line form of a journal that can be shared or kept private depending on the site. There are sites out there that actually pay you to blog such as Blog burner, Smorty, and weblogs others are such for fun like this one. I use Myspace to do must of my blogging, which allows me to get stuff off of my chest, give thanks to people and share some art work.

This is the link of for the sites that pay you to blog, how true they are I didn't test.

http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/sites-that-pays-you-to-blog/

This graph breaks down what people do while on a computer. As you can see blogging is still a part of what people do. By this graph you can see that 17 million people use the computer to write their own blogs and another 10 million micro blog; that is a total of 27 million bloggers. As you can see that is 4 million more people that use blogs than upload videos.

Negatives of blogging

Like all other social networking with all the positives there will be some downfalls with them. One of the downfalls with blogging is the over use of it, some people feel they need to tell everyone what they plan to do or are doing. This can lead to to people hacking your computer or account. The possibility of getting addicted to blogging is also one that exist in this social network. Internet abuse is also another negative, this is where someone comments on the blog or even e-mail the person if it is available. Staring at a computer screen for more than than ten hours a day can weaken your eyesight or even cause severe eye conditions. Lastly people who blog for long periods of time on a daily basis can also develop carpal tunnel. These are just a few of the negatives that come with blogging. When using blogging in a responsible way and with some common sense blogging can be very fun and relaxing.

Experiencing the Blog as a Writer

Blogging has two sides to it: reading and writing. The first side to blogging, which immediately comes to most people's minds when they hear the word blog, is that of writing. I, personally have written in about 5 different blogs, and although all of them served an important purpose to me, only one was uniquely rewarding.



After an adventure to Crown Point, Indiana which led to spending two days on the set of a major motion picture and subsequently meeting Oscar nominated actor Johnny Depp, I wrote a blog about my experiences.

Experiencing the Blog as a Reader

Not everybody is willing to write about their lives and post for the whole anonymous world to see, but anyone that spends a remotely significant amount of time on the internet probably reads blogs.

There are actually quite a few blogs I read on a regular basis, but one blog I read that has found a very wide audience is called "Cake Wrecks."


Although "Cake Wrecks" got its start as a blog like any blog that you are I might just start up for fun, its popularity spread far and wide. The bloggers, Jen and John Yates were typical young professionals, that started the blog as a hobby. Now, the couple makes their living off of ad revenue from the blog, merchandise sold through the blog, and their recently released book based on the blog.

Another popular blog I read has a more serious and goal-oriented subject matter than Cake Wrecks. It is called Fed Up With Lunch: The School Lunch Project.



Fed Up With Lunch is a blog written by a school teacher who has decided to chronicle her experiences eating the meals her school cafeteria offers to the students everyday by taking pictures and giving her opinions on the meals.

Reasons To Blog

Like every other kind of media, blogging can be used for negative purposes, but I want to show you some positive ways that people (myself included) use blogs.

Blogging can be used for:

-staying connected with friends and family: example

-stories

-pictures

-videos

-sharing information

-recipes

-movie reviews

-music

-promoting your products

-clothing

-jewelry

-music

-artwork

-cupcakes