What is a blog?

In this article, you will learn what a blog and the types of blogs are. Let’s talk about the modern “blogosphere video bloggers and microbloggers.”

Blog and blogosphere – what is it?

Blog (from the English “online magazine, diary of events”) – a website on the Internet, the content of which is regularly updated with text, images, and media content.

Typical signs of the blog:

• Non-short records;
• Reverse chronological order of publication (the newest entry is from above);
• Publicity and the availability of readers entering into public polemics with the author (if there is a possibility of commenting);
• Temporal relevance and relevance of content.

Examples of blogs: sprintally.com, azahar.in, etc…

Blogs are thematic, general, and personal. Sometimes a person has a lot of hobbies and thoughts of the author so intertwined that it is difficult to refer a blog to a specific topic.

By the way, the authors of blogs are called bloggers. This is very important because two years ago there were adopted amendments to the laws of the Russian Federation, in the blogosphere referred to as the “Law on bloggers”. The bottom line is that the authors of blogs with an audience of more than 3 thousand people should register with Roskomnadzor, do not swear, do not call for extremism. In a word, monitor the bazaar on the Internet.

The same thing applies to readers who communicate with each other in blog comments. Because blogs are a special form of collective network communication, different from the e-mail, chat rooms and instant messengers, forums.

The first blogs appeared in the English-speaking segment of the Internet back in the early 90s, but were not widely disseminated – the Internet was then unimportant. After 1996, blogs began to emerge more often, and in 1999, the world-renowned platform Blogger.com, now run by Google, was created. So the blogosphere was formed.

The blogosphere is a collection of all blogs on the Internet.

Of course, you can divide the blogosphere into several parts: by language and regional affiliation, by the subject of blogs, by the type of blogs themselves.

The traditional “text” blogosphere is now in decline – the era of web 2.0 has passed, it was replaced by micro-and video bloggers with their own rules and blogging features. Many bloggers simply “wrote off” or stopped seeing the meaning of a personal blog, others began to conduct exclusively professional blogs, and others switched to creating actual media content on Instagram and Youtube.

Everything flows, everything changes and the Internet is no exception because the blogosphere is only a small part of it, which means that it also changes with time.

Why do I need a blog?

The first problem that novice bloggers face is “what to write on a blog”. Really a problem. A person starts a blog according to the trend of the fashion or informal environment in which he communicates, conscientiously writes regular posts to the blog, and then throws the blog. Why.

Because the average blogger does not understand why you need your blog. “Well this is cool,” “prestigious,” “my thoughts are in demand in society” – something people will not think of in trying to explain their creative impulses. Yes, it can be cool and prestigious, but then you throw up and the results of such blogging are no better than an abandoned gym or other hobbies. Boredom is overcome, now you need to find a new hobby.

This is not a serious approach because people are not used to thinking in advance. People find it difficult to find real-life scenarios in which the blog is useful not as a way to put on the Internet its philosophical samizdat, but for more pragmatic purposes and things.

Why do you need a blog in 2016-2020? There are at least 7 reasons:

1. A professional blog demonstrating your competencies – for networking, tracking your professional growth, providing expert advice and searching for orders, increasing the competence of readers.
2. Personal blog – to track changes and personal growth in life.
3. Blog “about the Internet and sites” – for earning a little money on referrals, advertising, and freelancing.
4. A blog about actual, important, pressing problems in people’s lives – to participate in politics, increase personal popularity and earn good money on advertising or promotion, strengthening their reputation.
5. A thematic blog is for searching like-minded people and forming an additional circle of communication on the Internet by their interests, as well as “monetizing” their hobbies.
6. A personal blog about everything that bothers the author-blogger, about his life and hobbies created for self-presentation and communication on the Internet, as well as for earnings.
7. Collective blog – can combine several goals, depending on the goals of each of the authors.

Functions and types of blogs

From the side, it is not always clear that blogging (authoring blogging) and reading blogs are completely different processes. Nevertheless, they have a common communicative function linking the author and his readers.

The author of the blog can communicate with various interesting people from around the world. Readers of blogs can also communicate with interesting bloggers – wherever they are. The process of communication in blogs has common features with communication on anonymous forums – does not involve reciprocity and does not lock several people into a strict one-on-one communication framework.

Blogs have several functions through which readers achieve their goals or meet their following needs:

• In obtaining new and up-to-date information (along with reading news);
• In reading for entertainment;
• In tracking the reaction of different social groups to different events;
• In socialization with social groups or familiarizing with someone else’s life.

Blog functions:

• Communicative – allows you to get acquainted with interesting people and conduct public discussions. You write one comment (post), and many people see it, so the discussion begins.
• The function of self-presentation is the extension of a static personal page on the Internet to the level of a regularly updated diary. Allows self-expression on the Internet through the gradual publication of the “what’s on your mind”.
• For entertainment – blogs are fun, crowded and there is always something to discuss: no worse than forums or chats. There is always interesting information – often people prefer the author’s submission of certain events in return for official dry news. You can share emotions and experiences with other people. You can sit in blogs all your free time, and you can drop in there at a free moment – to compensate for the lack of communication in real life.
• The function of creation, retention, and expansion of social connections – you can communicate with familiar people, or you can expand the circle of communication. In this regard, blogs have become harbingers of social networks. In the blogosphere, it is easy to find useful contacts – colleagues, professionals in your field, or just nice people.
• Chronic record (keeping memoirs) – allows you to make public notes and notes that will be useful not only for you but also for other people. And you can keep a private blog only for yourself and analyze your actions in the past – this is how deferred communication takes place with yourself.
• Self-development or reflection – on the Internet you can be anything: a person only striving for success or you can create an alternative self to compensate for something in real life. Anything can happen.
• Psychotherapeutic – authors, exactly like blog commentators, are ordinary people. All people need time, a place, and favorable conditions for speaking out, sharing vital problems. splash out anger, complain, sink, or calm down. This is a new form of dairy, when you not only write “on the table”, but also get feedback from people. And “social strokes”!
• Promotion of goods and services – in blogs it is easy to learn the opinion of the “people” about certain brands, and also to work to strengthen the position of the goods or to prevent the negative impact of feedback on the brand. Large companies work with opinion leaders to form a brand, and freelancers and small entrepreneurs just look for clients.

Types of blogs:

• Depending on the author’s composition – individual (personal), group (collective), or open (public).
• Depending on the subject matter – narrow-profile (thematic) or general.
• Depending on the placement on the Internet – on blog hosting (LiveJournal, blogger) or standalone (standalone: your hosting, CMS of your choice).

I will dwell on the last point. Both blog hosting and offline hosting of blogs have their advantages and disadvantages in recruiting an audience and “friends”, managing the appearance and content of the blog.

Finally, I will list a few topics for author blogs that will always find their audience and will remain relevant.

• Blogs about politics – unfortunately, many people from politicians, political scientists, and parties are still avoiding such activity. Nevertheless, the author’s content and reflections on the topic of current political events are in great demand.
• Blogs on everyday topics – psychology, relationships, households, lifestyle, work, lifestyle.
• Travel blogs are some of the most popular. Readers are interested in following other people’s travels without getting off the couch: someone is lazy, someone has no opportunities, someone has money. Travel blogs are very interesting, warmly recommend.
• Blogs about education collect an audience associated with the education system. Basically, they are led by parents and teachers, so they make contact and improve education in the country.
• Blogs about fashion, beauty, and style are very popular among girls and women. The content in them is about the same as in glossy magazines – opinions of stylists and advice of professionals, selection of clothes and modern trends in the style of clothes for different events are published.
• Music blogs consecrate current musical events, develop discussions about music preferences and novelties of the music world.
• News analytical blogs with the private opinion of their authors on the account of current events in the country and the world.
• Blogs about sports are devoted to the results of sports events, discussion of the career of athletes and coaches.
• Blogs about cinematography also collect a large audience – there are a lot of films, there is always something to discuss.
• Erotic blogs about sex, “take-away” and seduction. There can be published both real and fictional stories from life.
• Blogs about the Internet, sites, start-ups, programming, and modern web technologies.
• Blogs about health – about medicines, illnesses, different nuances during pregnancy, people’s advice, and feedback about doctors. The theme of health and medicine is one of the most extensive and affects every person. Therefore, blogs on this topic will always be popular, especially if they have high-quality content.

The main topics of blogs I listed, also did not forget to tell why people create blogs (“for fun”) and for what you really need to have your blog. Also, I hope you now have answers to the questions – what to write on the blog and how to conduct it. I hope now you can guess why the blog is better than the site.

Video blogs – what is a vlog?

The video blog or Vlog is a blog with video content.

The content and themes of video blogs can be the same as those of regular blogs, only the authors share their thoughts, experiences, and emotions in the videos. And the vlogs find their audience – they are especially popular with young people and teenagers.

In fact, to make the text fun and interesting – it will be a good idea to try. Especially if you want your texts to be read to the end.

Video content is easier to shoot – jokes, smiles, good mood, charisma, and content is ready. The truth is, you need to cut it, remove the excess, or re-shoot if the shots do not work out. In a word – its advantages, its complexity.

The content of vlogs is more viral and lively. Authors of vlogs on YouTube become real stars on the Internet and get good money for advertising.

What do video blogs do? Who on that much: smartphones, GoPro cameras, SLR cameras, and everything in this spirit. Depending on the situation, your conditions, and budget. The main thing is that the picture was good. And sound!

That’s just about the sound that is often forgotten when creating such media content. Do not stint on the microphone if the camera does not record a sound or is far away from you when shooting. Penny-Eight expenses will pay off!

Let’s move on to microblogging.

Microblogging – what is and how to lead?

A microblog is a blog with short entries containing a small amount of text, a picture, a quote, a link, a video.

Microblogs are created to keep abreast of your friends’ affairs or to conduct public activities. This is a system of distributed chats where you can subscribe to messages from other users, leave comments and post other people’s records in your own tape.

The most famous service of microblogging is Twitter. On Twitter, people exchange public messages with each other up to 140 characters (excluding links and pictures). Microblogs are more of a news and entertainment format, so on Twitter, they have a lot of fun and joke, sometimes rewriting other people’s jokes more successfully or simply trying to be original.

The information spreads blithely in Twitter microblogs using the retweet system. If you have 100 readers, you write a tweet, and it retweets your subscribers, in the amount of which have 10,000 readers – consider that your tweet has notified 10100 people.

On Twitter, it is customary to monitor current news and quotes, “juggle” politicians and newsmakers in their own way, and express their opinions about and without reason.

So microblogging, like video blogs, is a separate world with its own trends, flash mobs, and rules.

Summing up about blogs and the blogosphere

Internet in general and the blogosphere especially not so many years. Nevertheless, blogs have already made their contribution to the Internet community and people’s ideas about what the Internet should be like.

Blogs influence politics, the leaders of the blogosphere influence the perception of the surrounding reality of ordinary people. Blogs make an online feedback mechanism – for both local and global processes.

Blogs make people more informed and interested in alternative types of information as opposed to official media. Themed blogs are centers of attraction for professionals and people with different hobbies. Blogs allow informal surveys about people’s opinions.

How many opportunities the blogosphere brought to the Internet. About 15 years ago, this would not have dreamed.