This is the first in our effort to create an easy to understand glossary of various technology terms.  After all, the business world is evolving rapidly to incorporate technology platforms like blogging.  Even us middle-aged women can expect to bump into technology like blogging more and more frequently, and stretching our comfort zone to understand what they are and their implications will keep our job skills fresh and current.   Besides, blogs have a lot to offer!

What is a blog?

A blog is an online journal or diary where an individual regularly posts his or her opinion, viewpoint, or commentary on any topic they please.  They are usually informal and conversational in nature rather than a carefully crafted article. 

Some blogs contain only text with perhaps a few photos.  Many others may include links to other relevant resources, videos, polls or surveys, or quotes and commentary on other blogs.  There is a whole universe of blogs (the blogosphere) on any subject you can imagine.

How are blogs and journalism different?

A blog is not ‘journalism’ in the sense of information formally presented and objectively (supposedly) factual.  It represents one person’s opinion on a topic or issue.  Some bloggers (a person who maintains a blog) are experts in their field and so, their commentary can be quite useful.  Some bloggers are quite well-respected and even used as sources by journalists.  Or, a blogger may simply have a unique, amusing, provocative or interesting perspective to share. 

What do blogs enable?

Blogs can be interactive since most blogs encourage readers to leave comments about particular posts.  For example, if I write a blog post (a single article or entry-one of many on the blog) concerning women and money, you could leave a comment sharing a book you’ve read on the subject that made you a millionaire. 

When people leave comments regularly, a blog can become its own community where people share insights, opinions, and resources about topics they are all interested in.  Therefore, you tap into the knowledge and expertise of many people interested in the same things you are.

What do blogs look like?

Blog posts are listed in reverse chronological order and are usually archived in categories so readers can easily locate posts of interest to them.  The categories are often listed on one side of the blog so visitors can easily find blog posts they are interested in.  Sometimes the blogger will also have a list of other related websites or blogs about related topics.

How do I start a blog and where do I find blogs about things I’m interested in?

There are a number of blogging tools so that virtually anyone can start their own.  Blogger, Typepad and Wordpress are only a few of the most popular.  Technorati is a popular site where you can search the blogosphere (the whole universe of blogs that are to be found on the Internet) for blogs that may be of interest to you.  There are many others.

Unfortunately, finding blogs you like isn’t an exact science.  It isn’t called the Web for nothing.  They are all interconnected and it is easy to follow many rabbit trails, sometimes to a gold mine, sometimes to a swamp.  There are ways to manage all the information however.  See: Readers.

What are the big picture implications of blogs?

Blogs really represent the democratization of information.  Now virtually anyone with a computer and access to the Internet can make their opinion or perspective available to anyone else on the web.  No longer do we count only on print publications, journalists, and professional columnists to present information and commentary on events of the day.

It takes some discernment on our part to separate the wheat from the chaff.  It is easy to blur the lines between journalism and blogs.  And, although there are tools to help manage them, they can nonetheless consume much time. 

It is also important to note that while blogs used to be largely personal in nature, businesses are now incorporating blogging into their business strategies as a way to tighten the relationship with their customers.  The interactivity made possible by blogs and other tools is rapidly becoming the norm and customers expect to be able to interact with their vendors. 

The following video explains blogs in clear language and images: 

For links to a number of blogs about midlfe women, check the right sidebar of Allison's Blog under Blogroll . 

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