by Alexius Tan

Created on: December 08, 2008   Last Updated: March 13, 2009

A search in older dictionaries would offer no assistance to the meaning of the word "blog". The word was coined in May 1999 as a contraction of the term "web log", which is a website that is maintained with regular entries that describe and comment about events. The word "blog" can also be used as a verb, as in "I'm blogging this on my blog."

The blog traces its roots to the online communities like Usenet and BBS (Bulletin Board Systems), where information is shared and conversations took place among users. Then-conventional diaries soon adopted the online version as the new convention. The online version of the diary has several advantages over its predecessor; not only it dispenses the need of using a pen to write, blogs are not quota-limited, hence the users will not face the problem of running out of fresh pages to blog. Furthermore, blogs can be password-protected to avoid unauthorized reading.

Blogs are not exactly diaries, whereby information and content are kept confidential. Content on blogs are usually made public and people all over the world can view it. As such, the blog provides a window for friends or followers of a blog user (commonly known as "blogger") to receive updates about him or her.

In a typical blog, you will find the entries arranged in reverse chronological order, a small photo or video album displayed by the side, links to previous posts as well as links to friends' blogs and websites. In some blogs, you may also find a tag board or chat box, where readers can leave comments in response to the bloggers' entries.

Are you ready for the creation of your very own blog?

ALL YOU NEED: AN EXISTING EMAIL ACCOUNT

Creating a blog for yourself is fairly simple; all you need is to have an existing email account, by visiting any of the blog space providers' websites like <www.blogger.com>, <www.wordpress.com> and <www.xanga.com>, click the tab to start or create your blog, and you will be brought to a page where you fill in your email address to create an account. After the account creation, check your email for the activation email to activate your blog account. Next, you will be required to name your blog, which can be a single word or a phrase. After the naming, you will proceed with choosing a template for your blog.

BLOG CUSTOMIZATION

The world today is about customization, you want your blog to reflect something closer to your character, and you may want to find a template that suits your taste. These templates are commonly known

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