A blog is basically a series or articles or diary entries on a particular subject displayed sequentially in a web format. A online journal. Blogs can be written, audio or video. Blogs can contain advertising as a means of web monetising. Most social networks incorporate blogging tools. There are numerous pages on the internet that will tell you all about blogs and many bloggers have written books on the subject of how to blog. These include

• Blog Marketing
• Publish and Prosper: Blogging for Your Business
• Blogging for Business: Everything You Need to Know and Why You Should Care

The primary players for blogging platform services are as follows some of these offer free services;

• Movable Type
• Wordpress Blogger
• Live Journal
• Squarespace

Bloggers have a tendency to track conversation on blogs, the web and connections between blogs and blog content. They can sometimes work in gangs as a means to support or deter readership. The formation of on-line gangs as a means to promote websites and blogs may be how cyber bullying originated.

Tools used for researching hot blog topics can be found at the following blogging sites;

• Technorati
• Blogpulse
• Blogrunner

The following allow you to search blog feeds for specific content;

• Tailrank.com
• Bloglines

If you are interested in researching blogs for content on a specific topic blog search engines exist to help perform this activity these include;

• Google Blog Search
• Technorati

As you become more familiar with blogs you may find yourself interested in searching what are considered to be the best blogs and top web pages. The value of a blog can be measured by popularity, linkage, unique visitor etc. Blogging sites which rank blogs on content and popularity include the following;

• Technorati
• Alexa Internet
• Technoranki
• Bloglines
• Blogflux
• Wordpress

Web Page Last updated: Feb 2008 Note: The above article includes Amazon affiliate links.