3.6 Blogging
“The blog is the best relationship generator
you’ve ever seen.”
—Robert Scoble, blogger1
History of Blogging
Blogs
are websites consisting of entries listed in reverse chronological order.
They have existed since the mid-1990s; however, interest in blogging has grown exponentially in recent
years because of easy-to-use blogging software and increasingly economical
Internet access. The term “blog” evolved from weblog, a regularly updated
list of interesting websites. These blogs consisted of short postings,
in reverse chronological order, that contained links to other web pages
and short commentaries or reactions. Blogging has since taken on a looser
structure—some blogs still follow the traditional format of links
and small amounts of text, while others consist of essays, sometimes
not containing any links. Blogs can also now incorporate media, such
as music or videos. Many people are familiar with personal journal blogs,
like those on Xanga
or LiveJournal.
These sites include social networking features and are particularly
popular with teenage bloggers, who often write about their day-to-day
lives for friends.
Blogging has become a major social phenomenon, empowering
users to participate in, rather than just view, the web. In July 2006
most bloggers,
or blog authors, had not had a personal website before starting their
blog.2 The increased availability of user-friendly blogging software
has allowed blogging to become accessible to more mainstream Internet
users.
Blog Components
Reader comments create an
interactive experience, allowing readers to react to blog entries. According
to a Pew Internet study, 87% of blogs
allow reader comments.3 Successful bloggers pay attention to their readers and respond,
often sparking interesting discussions and debates. However, allowing
comments increases the possibility of spam (including irrelevant comments,
inappropriate language and link spam—where a user tries to increase
an irrelevant site’s number of inbound links). By some estimates,
over 90% of blog comments are spam.4
Permalinks
provide blog readers with a way of linking to specific blog entries.
Each blog post has a unique URL referring to that single post. Links
stay relevant even after the blog entry moves off the homepage and into
the archive.
Trackbacks
tell bloggers who is linking to their posts. This enhances Internet
content by making linking two-way. The blogger provides a trackback
link, and sites that use the link are added to a list on the blog entry.
For an example of a trackbacks section, visit http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/08/08/web-20-the-24-minute-documentary/.
This is a permalink to a post on TechCrunch,
a popular Internet technology blog, that features a Web 2.0 video from
2006.
A blogroll
is a list of the blogger’s favorite blogs. Though not all blogs
feature a blogroll, it is common for the main page of a blog to contain
links to several other blogs. For example, LiveJournal automatically
incorporates a blogroll (consisting of users the blogger has marked
as friends) into a user’s profile page.
Blogging and Journalism
“Freedom of the press is guaranteed
only to those who own one.”
—A.J. Liebling5
Blogging has encouraged citizen
journalism, allowing anyone to be a journalist.
Blogs have become a significant news resource, drawing traffic away
from the mainstream media. Some argue
that this form of “participatory journalism”
holds less biases than mainstream media, or at least makes these biases
clear and provides many different views. This democratization
of media allows a larger group to take part in journalism.6 Traditional journalists had previously been able to create a representative
democracy (much like the political system of the United States) by speaking
for the masses. However, blogging gives a voice to everyone with a computer
and Internet access, creating a more direct democracy.
Many bloggers are recognized as members of the media. Just
as television and radio increased the speed of news delivery over that
of newspapers, blogs have become a fast and in-depth (and often “unwashed”)
news medium. The mass media is embracing blogging;
many TV news anchors suggest that viewers read their blogs after the
show, and many newspaper websites feature blogs by reporters.
Though journalism is a large part of
the blogging phenomenon, according to a Pew Internet study only one-third
of bloggers consider their blogs a form of journalism. Eighty-four percent
of bloggers consider it a hobby, and only 10% spend more than ten hours
a week blogging.7 Posting new content and responding to reader comments requires
a substantial time commitment.
Growth of Blogging
The number of blogs has been doubling about twice a year.8 However, there is also a large number of abandoned blogs. A Caslon Analytics study found
that “66.0% of surveyed blogs had not been updated in two months.”9
Companies are reaching out to the blogosphere,
or blogging community, to keep in touch with consumer opinions. Many
CEOs and top executives from large companies such as Sun Microsystems, Marriott International and General Motors are now regular
bloggers. This helps build consumer trust and loyalty. The
NewPR Wiki lists over 250 CEOs and upper-management bloggers.10
Increased use of mobile devices has also lead
to moblogging, or mobile blogging, as bloggers
no longer need to be at their computer to update their blogs. Similarly, vlogging, or video blogging, has gained popularity.Rocketboom, for example, posts
a three-minute video every day covering news and Internet stories.
Blogging and RSS Feeds
Many popular blogs provide RSS and Atom feeds to let readers know
when new content is posted. Feeds, offered through blogging software
or sites such as Feedburner (acquired by Google in 2007), help bloggers
track and maintain a steady readership. The feeds (containing an entire
post or just a selection with a link) can be automatically syndicated
via the web and aggregated on a website or application designated by
the user. Some sites (like Feedburner) provide an e-mail option, forwarding
the day’s posts to subscribers. While the use of feeds is certainly
growing, a Pew Internet study in July 2006
reported that only 18% of bloggers provide RSS feeds.11 (See “RSS and Atom” in Section 3.15.)
Blogging Software
Bloggers now have many options for building blogs. Online
hosted blog
software options include WordPress (which also
offers server software), TypePad and Blogger. Blog
server software programs include Movable Type and Textpattern.
These require users to have their own web server; however, they also
allow for more customization. Some word processors (such as Microsoft Word 2007) also offer
blog publishing features or are compatible with blog posting extensions.
Blog Networks
Blog
networks are collections of blogs, often with several editors.
Popular blog networks include Corante, Weblogs,
Inc., 9rules, b5media and Gawker Media. Many of these networks,
with multiple bloggers and daily postings, draw significant traffic
and a broad audience. Blog networks help bloggers build reputations
and loyal readers. Some social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook also enable blogging to a private
network of friends.
Blog Search Engines
Blog
search engines, such as Technorati
and Google
Blog Search, monitor the blogosphere’s constant
changes. When dealing with blogs, search results cannot be based strictly
on traditional factors such as reputations built over time (since the
blogosphere is so dynamic). Technorati,
which tracked over 93 million blogs in July 2007, addresses the unique
needs of what they call the “World Live Web.” Google
Blog Search adjusts Google’s search algorithms to specifically
address the blogosphere. Other blog search engines include Feedster, IceRocket and Blogdigger.