Friday 21 September 2012

What is a blog?



Recently I got an e-mail from someone – we’ll call him 'Olde' - who has only used the internet for research but in so doing came across my blog.  Having found some useful things on it (he didn’t say which blog – presumably not this rambling creation) he asked if I could tell him “ What is a blog?”  Gosh, how long is a piece of string?  The latter may be unanswerable but for those like ‘Olde’ who haven’t visited blogs on a regular basis I thought I’d have a go at an answer.  I’m sure that your comments will add to my thoughts.    Here goes.

Basically a blog is the computer equivalent of a blank notebook.  The background design etc. differs from blog to blog just as one notebook might differ from another but nearly all have a ruled column down one side of each page (called the side-bar) about which I shall write more later.

If you are given a blank notebook you may use it for whatever you like – the weekly accounts, a diary, a record of birds seen in the garden, a note of your visits to the doctor.   Whatever.  And only you can write in the notebook (unless you invite a friend to do so).  But the notebook remains private. Here is where the difference begins. A blog is almost always public (though private blogs are possible). It is a way of sharing whatever is in your notebook with the world. It has the added advantage of you being able to illustrate it with photographs.  Indeed the main objective for some people is to share their photos with the world.

If your notebook is simply a poorly-written diary of your day to day life mucking out the pigs or a whinge about your health issues it is likely to have few readers.  If your blog is full of interesting snippets of information and is written in a style that people enjoy it often has more readers, some of whom become ’followers' – that is people who get notified every time you add a new page (a post as it is called).  New people come to your blog by two main methods. Word of mouth tends to be the main one. One blogger will recommend another or mention that a particular post was of interest and link to it.  The second is by people searching for a word or phrase or a picture on a search engine and being led to your blog. So someone putting in ‘Lewis Chessmen’ was led to my Isle of Lewis blog just yesterday even though the posting about them was done twelve months ago.

Just as your notebook may be subject specific so too may a blog.  It may be about recipes, book reviews, collecting stamps, Harry Potter, household tips, gardening or any other subject under the sun.  In my case, for example, I have various blogs (many of which are inactive – i.e. I have not posted in them for a while) such as one about Exeter, where one of my daughters lives, and one about the Isle of Lewis where I stay most summers with my brother who lives there.  Other people, by writing about their home town and what they consider ordinary, may create a blog that fascinates me because their buildings, lifestyle, culture etc. appear so exotic compared to mine. And no doubt there is a vice versa to that.  Someone in Malaysia may find the trivia of life on Merseyside fascinating.

My main blog is a general one appropriately entitled ‘Rambles from my Chair’.  It rambles from being a diary to a reminiscence about things in the sixties or a cute baby animal I heard about being born in a zoo or maybe a brief note on an animal becoming extinct, a book review, or a recipe for fruit juice.  I try to avoid politics and religion though the history of the occasional Saint’s Day might get a mention or I might comment about the badger cull. I try to keep it suitable for all ages and all backgrounds and, most of all I try not to offend people. I don’t see it as part of my job to denigrate anyone (though I did once have a serious go at the American politician Sarah Palin) or put down any particular race, colour, creed, etc.. After all, why should I consider my views in that regard to be of interest to others or more worthy of being heard.

By contrast some people write political blogs while others show the depth of their devotion to their religion. Some of these can be interesting, simply because they are so informative or so well written that their style appeals. Or they may be accompanied by photos that are excellent.  I can happily live with these so long as the person doesn’t work too hard telling me off if I’m not a believer.  I like them to offer me the same courtesy I offer them by not denigrating anyone who is not of their way of thinking.

So that is the basic concept of a blog and its posts.  The blogger may post as frequently or infrequently as they wish but in most cases there is a comment box. In that ‘visitors’ to the blog are invited to make a comment.  It is not compulsory and many visitors leave no trace of having been on the blog except as a statistic.  (One can check how many visitors a particular post had, etc.) .  Others, like myself, tend to comment on every visit so that the person is rewarded for the effort of writing, to make our views known, to answer a question of theirs (I love identifying people’s insect and animal photos), to relate a similar or dissimilar experience, or simply to say how interesting the information in their post has been or how beautiful the photos.  Sometimes a comment will invite a reply and a mini-correspondence develops beneath the post itself.  

As you will notice if you visit a blog there are often two columns – the main posting one and a side-bar.  This side-bar can be used for all sorts of purposes.  Most people include in it a lead to their profile (a description as brief or as complex as they like about themselves).  There is usually a search engine which searches that particular blog for keywords.  Some people include links to their favourite blogs or blogs done by other members of their family.  Depending upon which server hosts the blog – most of mine are on Google’s Blogger (identified by the word blogspot in the address) – one may also list one’s followers. These are the people who have chosen to be notified on their blog ‘dashboard’ or ‘reader’ when you make a new post.  In many cases the sidebar also allows you to subscribe to be notified by e-mail when a person posts, though the e-mail is a bit slow to be sent. There might also be advertising – either organised by Google or done privately (I advertise a friend’s vintage store), links to the titles of earlier posts, a link to one’s Facebook page or some other social network (if one has one).  Indeed one can use the sidebar for almost anything.   

Only when I’d finished did I realise the length of my answer but I thought – well you did ask!!!

27 comments:

  1. I think your answer is great! Informative, interesting, comprehensive -- just what a newbie would need to become acquainted with blogs and blogging.

    By the way, it's perfectly okay to diss Sarah Palin -- a woman whom many Americans feel is definitely Beyond the Pale!! so to speak.

    Very cool and drizzly here today, which is actually good. Washington State has had a lot of wildfires lately (mostly lightning strikes) because it's been so dry. So if it decided to bucket down for a day or two that would probably be a good thing.

    In the meantime, have a great weekend. And thanks so much for the info on blogging. Maybe one of these days I'll start a Canadian Chickadee blog.

    Hugs to all, xoxox Carol

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A Canadian Chickadee Blog would be informative, well-written and fun. I know that. But I would say that you should only take it on if you feel you have time. Despite the fact that one of my mottoes is 'Don't feel guilty if you podt infrequently or if you slip out of the blogging world for a while' I still do.

      Delete
    2. Not to make you feel guilty, but if I don't see regular blogs from you, I worry about you! :o) Hugs, Carol

      Delete
    3. I know Carol, and thank you. That's why I always try to warn people if I'm going to be busy or not posting for some other reason like being out of internet access. Ironically, my good times and bad times are often each so short lived that they don't necessarily affect my posting. Yesterday, for example, I was dead to the world. Today, I'm on top of it, relatively speaking. Fingers crossed it lasts till lunchtime - there's a Formula One Grand Prix on today!
      And a lot of virtual hugs to you too.
      John

      Delete
  2. I knew all that and yet I kept reading. You ARE a good writer... :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Monica. The feeling, of course, is mutual.

      Delete
  3. I first asked that question a good number of years ago, of a news magazine. They felt it was of interest to print the question and reply: "A Blog is a Web Log". (Someone's Log Book.) When I spoke to one of our church couple groups about a year or so ago, about my blog, I told them it was like a magazine with everyone having their own page to write whatever they want on it and get it published.. You did a fine and more extensive job!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Comparing it to a magazine is obviously a popular way of describing it. Thanks Chris.

      Delete
  4. P.S. TO CAROL...No you can't diss Sarah Palin unless I can diss Bill Maher. (See, that's how it goes...on and on..) :}

    ReplyDelete
  5. This is an excellent explanation about blogs. I have had people ask me what is a blog before and I’ll send them to read yours. I’ll come back and read more of your posts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Welcome Vagabonde, hope to see you again. I'm getting quite a little Atlanta fan club!!

      Delete
  6. Uh oh....I wrote of my ailments, today ;) I'm afraid my notebook has had very little of my thoughts for quite some time, much to my dismay. You know me well enough to recall that I have a deep inner need to express myself through words. There simply has not been enough time for all that I want to do - need to do, barely, but want to do, never enough.

    Love your blog description!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I write of my ailments a lot more than you do, Heather, I think the point kis that there is something more to it than that, as you know. And your blog is amazing (with, of course, it's wonderful photos) considering your family commitments and jobs. I moan about never having enough time to do things and I don't do a twentieth of what you do.

      Delete
  7. I love what you wrote! I agree it is a journal, where we share what we want. For me sometimes I think of it as a magazine. I try to share interesting tidbits, recipes and ideas. And sometimes it is my soap box to share my view. Like you, I am cautious and do not discuss religion, politics or anything to intimate~ I try to share either fragments of beauty and positive cheer :D

    Great job explaining and covering the concept of blogging!

    ReplyDelete
  8. So that's what blogging is all about.....Thanks for this for the first time in three years I feel I know what I'm doing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The fact that I have some idea what a blog is doesn't mean I know what I'm doing, Adrian...

      Delete
  9. Your reply leaves nothing to add, John.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Praise indeed from as enthusiastic a blogger as you, Meike. Thanks.

      Delete
  10. A blog is something you write and like-minded people will read it and sometime comment on it.
    There, how's that?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Succinct, accurate and just about all that really needed to be said. Why didn't I just write that???

      Delete
  11. Scriptor, Well said. I think blogs are a window in the soul of another. The scenes are varied, and some are just so interesting and delightful, they invite return visits. Writing one, makes me take stock of what's going on in my own life that's of value and/or interest. (Plus, you get to post some pictures!) The view you offer into your world is full-bodied, varied, and consistently entertaining. Don

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I like the comment about taking stock, Don. It's not something I had thought about but it's true. My brother's posts on a Thankful Thursday are classic examples of that.

      Delete
  12. Wonderful write-up John! Very informative! And if I may add it has the effect of encouraging a friendship. It's also of being able to share the pleasure of each other's company though not physically but in virtual reality.

    Hank

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree, Hank. (Your Birdhouse blog, by the way, was one of the ones that I was thinking of when I wrote about one person's 'ordinary' life in a foreign country being exotic and interesting to someone in the UK. And hopefully vice versa.)

      Delete
  13. Hey John!
    This is just to tell you that I really loved your thoughtful, well-chosen words describing a blog. You really must excuse my attempt at humour! You might as well say a biography of a man is this: He was born, he lived, he died.
    Doggone it, I am so funny, I kill me.

    ReplyDelete

Hello - thanks for dropping by to leave a comment. Your comments are much appreciated even if I don't always reply. They will appear as soon as they have been moderated.

Blog Archive