blog (a
portmanteau of the term
web log)
[1] is a personal
journal published on the
World Wide Web consisting of discrete entries ("posts") typically displayed in reverse chronological order so the most recent post appears first. Blogs are usually the work of a single individual, occasionally of a small group, and often are themed on a single subject.
Blog can also be used as a verb, meaning
to maintain or add content to a blog.
The emergence and growth of blogs in the late 1990s coincided with the advent of
web publishing tools that facilitated the posting of content by non-technical users. (Previously a knowledge of such technologies as
HTML and
FTP had been required to publish content on the Web.)
Although not a must, most good quality blogs are interactive, allowing visitors to leave comments and even message each other via
GUI widgets on the blogs and it is this interactivity that distinguishes them from other static websites.
[2] In that sense, blogging can be seen as a form of
social networking. Indeed, bloggers do not only produce content to post on their blogs but also build social relations with their readers and other bloggers.
[3]
Many blogs provide commentary on a particular subject; others function as more personal
online diaries; yet still others function more as
online brand advertising of a particular individual or company. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs,
Web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability of readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art (
art blog), photographs (
photoblog), videos (
video blogging or vlogging), music (
MP3 blog), and audio (
podcasting).
Microblogging is another type of blogging, featuring very short posts.
As of 16 February 2011
(2011 -02-16)[update], there were over 156 million public blogs in existence.