What is a Blog?

The word Blog comes from the words Web Log. It's a Web site that allows an individual, or group of individuals, to share a running log of events and personal insights with online audiences. In simple terms, a Blog is an online journal.

There are many different ways to blog. You can blog online (standard written story), mobile blog (moblog) from your cell phone, video blog (Vlog) using videos instead of a written story, cartoon blog with a story told with a cartoon strip, and micro blog by writing small blurbs and recording what you're currently doing.

In Blogs, you can write articles for others to read and read articles posted by others. The articles in Blogs are called posts and each post gives you the opportunity to add comments and, sometimes, rate the post and e-mail it to another person.

A great feature Blogs have is the ability to archive your posts. The Blog service automatically archives your posts to organize your blog and make searching for content easier for your readers. You can select how often your posts are archived; every 30 days, every week, and so on. But don't worry, your posts are still accessible through the Archive links on the sidebar of your Blog. Not only are your posts archived to the appropriate month, but also to the appropriate year.

Standard Blogs (including mobile blogging) can be used to:

• Share insights and experiences
• Collaborate in project teams, post meeting minutes, assignments, action items, research and more.
• Link to other places on the intranet
• Talk about what you know (Subject Matter Experts)
• Blog about the moment
• Post video interviews with Product Managers about a product, employees about their experience with a product, etc...
• Blog about up coming internal training or products
• Share your insights about products or as a trainer
• Use the blog to ask what classes they need a refresher on or what are the hardest task they have every done and how did they overcome it

Micro Blogging can be use to:

• Keep everyone informed of your everyday activities
• Share resources and links
• Keep your team up-to-date on projects
• Share your class notes
• Summarize lectures, meetings, conferences. or presentations as they occur

Tips:

• You can set a blog to send emails to everyone when you make an update (RSS)
• Blog content before a class launch and after, blog at least once a week
• Encourage employees to blog at least once a week
• Use the blog to promote your classes, ask what classes are needed
• Provide blog etiquette rules

Watch this video for an explanation of Blogs in Plain English.




Watch this video for an explanation of Twitter in Plain English (microblogging).




Examples:

Standard blogs
Sports blog - http://www.fanblogs.com/
Comedy blog - http://www.happyslip.com/
Technology - http://goingweb20.blogspot.com

Other types of blogs
Micro blogging - www.twitter.com/cmedina
Photo blog - http://rmfoto.blogspot.com



Resources:

Blogging for Beginners Blogger quick tour

Copyright©2008 MomzBusiness.com