Blog Posts: An Introduction
Blogs, now called posts, have been around for over ten years. In 2004, they were at their height. That is how you were known. That does not mean if you have not started a blog that you are a lost cause. If you are just starting out, you may be asking yourself: What is a blog? You can go to Wikipedia and find out the history and what a blog is, sort of, but it does not really define in specific terms what is included in a blog and that is because there are different kinds of blogs. Here, I hope to tell you about what blogs are and the difference between them.
There are blogs that are just stream of consciousness. They are just made up of random thoughts of the moment and really don’t have a beginning, middle, and end as seen in essays. They may be random things about what you did and your thoughts about that day. It takes creativity and a bit of self-disclosure. It may be randomly ridiculous things, errors made, or a mishap that turned into a relatively good turnout. It is not a teaching moment. It is for entertainment.
There are blogs that focus on just one topic such as those put out by publishing firms that write about writing in of itself. They are short quips to wet you lips and draw you to read more about their site and what their writers put out in terms of articles. There is a trick. They reel you in to a product that they are selling. They give you free newsletters that are a mini blog. This is all to get you to invest in their product, i.e., self-publishing, editorial services, etc. If you know ahead of time what they are, you can glean good information from the articles.
There are blogs that are informational blogs that deal with a variety of topics particular to a certain population of people. These are more difficult blogs, because you must have a big enough audience who is interested in what you have to say about topics that they want to find out more about. For example, my blog is designed for therapists-psychologists, professional counselors, social workers, counseling or social work interns. This is a narrow field, but parents may also be interested. I am playing around with making it for a broader audience. These blogs are technical in nature and focus on one specific topic at a time or are written in a series of blogs/posts about the same topic.
Some people do not consider the last category blogging. What I have found is that a blog is anything you want it to be. Try out different types of blogs and see which one fits your voice. My voice is telling about my experiences that I hope can help another. A blog is best written if it is short. People who write long blogs are probably not going to be read unless it is outstanding. With all the reading material on the web, people want to be punched with a flavor they can run with and research further. They might just want to find out a little about something to be aware of it, but are not in the entire scene of it or they want something that will be a brief entertainment shot for them.
You can write a blog just for you. Maybe you just want to write in a stream of consciousness way for your own entertainment. That is just fine. There is no right or wrong way to write a blog and do not let anyone tell you differently. Go with your gut. You might be saying I do not want to write a blog, I am happy just reading them. Good for you! Show us your support by reading our blogs/posts. The above is an introduction into blogging and illustrates three types of blogs. There are many more types out there. Go and research and see what you find. Blogs in some respects now are called blog posts. Go out and find blogs that catch your interest. Eat your heart out and have fun doing it.