What is a blog, and why would I want to make one?

Weblogs were first made when people started putting their journals or notes online in the middle of the 1990s. It was a nice and unusual way for people to share their thoughts with the whole world. Weblogs were quickly shortened to "blog on technology" by people who use the internet, and some blogs even gained cult-like followings.

In the late 1990s, software was made that made it easy to start and keep a blog. This is when blogging really started to become famous. In 1998, OpenDiary set up the first weblog and added the ability for readers to leave comments to make it more interactive. Blogger.com began in 1999 with the goal of making blogs easier for everyone to use.

The first writers would have been amazed at how much blogs have grown in the last ten years. Even now, some writers still use their blogs as a kind of online diary, but blogs have almost as many different purposes as the people who write them. As technology has changed, so have the ways to blog. With the addition of audio blogging (podcasting) and video blogging (vlogging), blogging has become a rich, multi-media experience.

Since there are different blog systems, you no longer have to learn how to build a website. This makes blogs one of the easiest ways to have a presence on the web. Blogger.com is still used by a lot of people who want to blog for free. Blogger.com, which Google bought in 2003, makes it easy for anyone to start a blog in just a few minutes. Blogger.com gives users both the platform and the web room, so they don't have to pay for hosting.

Another popular site for blogs is WordPress. WordPress is a free website that has been around since 2003. Many different engineers and coders work together to make open source software. No license is needed to use the code or change it in any way to make it easier to use or add features. Because of this, WordPress has become the tool that can be changed the most, which has made it more popular.

Even though online writings are still a common use for blogs today, more are being made every day for a wide range of reasons. Blogs are used by politicians to explain to their fans what they stand for. The news is being written about on blogs by writers. Some famous people who keep in touch with their fans are actors and writers. Businesses use blogs to tell their customers about new products and ideas.

Through blogging, anyone can quickly share their thoughts online. No complicated coding or computer skills are needed, and a blog can be made almost instantly. People can get information from your blog and talk to you in ways that email just can't do.

Your blog is easy to change from almost anywhere. If you can connect to the internet, you can post to your blog from your PC at home, your laptop on the train, or your phone.