Basic Blogging

Blog Definition & History Web + Log = Weblog aka Blog Per Wikipedia: “A blog is a user-generated website where entries are made in journal style and displayed in a reverse chronological order.”

1997 – Jorn Barger creates Robot Wisdom

Birth of the Blogosphere 1999 – Weblog tools like Blogger are launched “The bandwagon-jumping turned into an explosion” (Rebecca Blood). Free services = Easy access A community evolves

The Read/Write Web No longer a read-only web No more static web sites The reader becomes the writer Readers participate in the conversation

PEW Internet & American Life Project Who is Blogging? 8% of adult users keep a blog 54% are under 30 37% write about life Male/Female evenly divided

What are they blogging about? (PEW Continued) Life experiences (37%) Politics and government (11%) Entertainment related (7%) Sports news (6%) General news/current events (5%)

PEW Continued Business (5%) Technology (4%) Religion, spirituality, faith (2%) Hobby or health (1%) Other misc. topics: opinions, volunteering, education, photography, causes/passions, and organizations

Blog Types Journals: A memoir in progress Filters: Mixes outside content with commentary K-blogs: Knowledge blogs – pass on information Combination: Mixture of any of the above

Journal Blogs Personal diaries Record of life A memoir in progress Favored by women, especially teens The most popular blog type no matter age or gender www.dooce.com

Filter Blogs Little original content Links to other web content Filters or culls information Possibly comments on this information www.jewelry-weblog.com

K-Blogs “K” refers to knowledge Aka knowledge-blogs How-to oriented Information based Intention of learning Repository of information blogclassinfo.wordpress.com/

Combo Blogs Often personal blogs Mixes all types Filters news or information Documents personal experience Passes on knowledge www.jewelryandbeading.com

Gender/Age of Bloggers vs. Types From “Women and Children Last: The Discursive Construction of Weblogs” Susan C. Herring, Inna Kouper, Lois Ann Scheidt, and Elijah L. Wright, Indiana University at Bloomington

Blog Parts and Pieces http://www.hwyblogs.com/hiw-blog-parts.php http://blogclassinfo.wordpress.com/2007/05/17/blog-parts-pieces/

Problogger: Helping Bloggers Earn Money Blog Header (1) This includes the title of your blog, which is the same or similar to the blog’s URL (web address). Along with a title in the header, very often there will be a subheading as well: For example – Problogger: Helping Bloggers Earn Money

Blog Calendar (2) Some bloggers include a small calendar on the sidebar, but this is not at all required. It’s just one of the many extras often available for bloggers to include. The calendar can be included in various areas on the blog.

Blog Archive (3) Archive of past posts is one of the elements that make a “blog” a “blog.” Allow readers easy access to previous posts Normally organized per month Reverse chronological order

Blog Search (4) A search box allows readers to search for specific key words Concept similar to a search engine for your blog Use key words and phrases

Article Categories & Recent Articles (5) Categories - Similar to monthly archives Organized per category Categories created by the blogger Readers can select per category of interest (6) Recent Articles- Lists the most recent posts Again in reverse chronological order

Favorite Links (7) Favorite sites are hot linked and added as a list. Aka Blog Roll Selected by the blogger Normally related to the blog topic Located in the side bar

RSS Feeds (8) RSS stands for Real Simple Syndication Sharing of content Notification of updates Use an aggregator aka feed reader Bloglines.com

Blog Article Title (9) Each post (article) needs a title Blogs made up of multiple posts Headline like a newspaper Use of key words SEO considerations

Blog Content & Permalink (10) Content is the text inside a post. Content = any writing on the web Your clever prose (11) Permalink is a hot link to an individual post Page for each single post

Comments (12) Comments include feedback from your blog readers. Readers “comment” to your post Leave open for anyone Or require approval for each comment Creates a conversation Often includes other links

Blog Lingo Blogosphere: blogging community Dashboard: blog control panel Indie Blogger: independent Page view: number of clicks Ranking: how high on search engines Stats: statistics Strikethroughs: deleted info

Locating Blogs Blogsearch.google.com Technorati.com Feedster.com Blogpulse.com Other blogs

Blog Etiquette Link Love Link inside text Add links to blog roll Include links in comments Give links Get links

Posting Comments Have something to say Part of the conversation Don’t spam Generates traffic

Give Credit Don’t plagiarize Internet content isn’t free content 20/80 ratio Link to sources Filter blog strategy Example: http://blogclassinfo.wordpress.com/2007/05/11/pew-blogging-stats/

Flaming / Shouting / Anonymity Pick a fight – be prepared Think before posting Whole Wide World Caps are out “C. and I had lunch”

Profile Add “About Me” or “Profile” page Avoid personal info Photo or picture Hobbies Career Interests Create personal connection

Niche Blogging Fill a content void Need knowledge or interest Narrow topic Available audience? Enough information?

Blogging Preliminaries Blog purpose Type of blog Blog host Blog topic Title and subtitle Public or private Blog revenue