Professional Blogger

Ghaya Al Mehairi200911030

COL 270-505

Outline• What are blogs? • Blogs history• Types of blogs• Blog design• Example of blogs types• Purpose of blogging• Blogs benefit• Steps in creating blogs:

– Create a blog– Change the blog theme– Create a new post– Attach a file

• Summary of Blogs• Reference list

What are blogs?

• ‘a cross between a diary, a web site, and an online community.’ by Laurel

OR

• a personal website or web page on which an individual records opinions, links to other sites, etc. on a regular basis.

Blogs history• Recent internet phenomena, started in the late 1990s.

• it is uncertain as to who actually created the “first” blog.

• Justin Hall began his proto-blog in 1994 while still a student at Swarthmore College, is often credited being the first online journaller

• Biz Stone stated that What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get (WYSIWYG) services were so popular of the mid-1990’s were merely blogs dressed in somewhat different coding.

• The Pyra group is the first to develop the blogger software.

• At the end of 1999, the total number of blogs was estimated to be around fifty.

• Numbers & facts:o In 2004, the estimates range from 2.4 to 4.1 million.o In 2007, the number of estimated blogs are more than 10 million; conducted by the

Perseus Development Corporation

Types of blogsWeblogs can be categorized in a number of different ways – on the basis of the content, the

format or features, the purpose or aim of the weblog, the way the weblogs was created.

Listed five different types of weblog on the basis of their content and purpose:1. ‘daily thoughts’

o Usually takes the form of short entries, sometimes with photographs.

2. ‘interesting stuff’ o What blogger has found online, almost always with links and usually with commentary.

3. ‘thought-provoking comment’ o Opinion about news and current events or about just one issue, with the aim of getting a

reaction and perhaps creating change.

4. ‘family blogs’o Are usually a group effort and may or may not be accessible to the general public.

5. ‘information blogs’ o A way for people or organizations to share information of various kinds.

Blog design

• Many blogs are designed for:

1. One way communication from blogger to the reader.

2. Two way communication More interactive with providing comments

Example of blogs types

• Business blogs

• Travel blogs

• Health blogs

• Food blogs

Business blogs

Travel blogs

Health blogs

Food Blogs

Purpose of blogging• Learning Outcome.

What are the specific learning outcomes? What's the objective of the lesson(s)? What standards are being addressed? When used in teaching and learning, the educational outcomes must be clear to the students.

• Information. Most blogs are used to share information including facts, data, statistics, links to other resources, opinions, and much more.

• Process or Product. Blogs are often used by teachers as a tool to document the information inquiry process.

• Reflection. Blogs can be used as a meta-cognitive tool to help people think about their life or learning.

• Interaction. Some blogs focus on communication between the person posting the entry and the people making comments. The responses may include additional information, expanded ideas, or critiques.

• Assessment. Sometimes blogs are used as a tool for assessment to check student understanding. Bloggers may be asked to state facts, analyze an article, or express their understandings.

Blogs benefit

• Personal benefits

• Business benefits

• Academic benefits

Personal benefits1. It Refines Your Writing Skills

In the process of writing, you will develop your own unique style of writing. With more and more practice, you will be more effective, attractive and interesting.

2. It Increases Your Knowledge Base Blogging gives you the excellent benefit of establishing yourself as an expert in your chosen niche or area of work.

3. It Makes You a Better Researcher But once you start a blog to write for, they will find it unavoidable to do some research for writing informative posts that will be liked and shared by a large number of people.

4. It Earns You Name As you continue to provide excellent quality posts to your readers, they get to know your better, your passion, likes, and dislikes.

5. It Connects You with Potential Bloggers Blogging connects you with potential bloggers in your niche industry. When you keep on blogging, you get to know about other successful bloggers.

6. It Earns You Income Undoubtedly, blogging is one of those skills that you can turn into a full fledged profession. There are many who are earning a full time income out of it.

Business benefits1. It Generates Backlinks

Businesses can use their blog to generate quality back links through well-maintained, informative and active blogging. Proactive blogger = with multiple business partners.

2. It is a Low Cost Marketing Device A well maintained updated blog happens to be a cheap marketing device. With a quality blog, you can instantly inform your consumers of the recently launched products and services.

3. It is the Best CMS blogs is the best of Content Management Systems (CMS). Whether it is a video file, image, audio file, document or pdf file, you can easily upload it all to the blog with a few clicks.

4. It Helps You Manage Your Online Reputation Today, brands have become worried about managing their reputation online. If you are facing any kind of negative press, you can counter it with the help of a blog.

5. It Keeps You Ahead of Your Competition In today’s competitive industry, a blog helps you inform your consumers of the way you work, how you differ from others and how your services are way above from your competitors.

6. It Gets You Media & PR Connections Another great benefit of having a consistently updated blog is that it can generate media and public relations for you.

Academic benefits1. It Helps You Venture Beyond Your Means

If you are an academic blogger with a desire to tread beyond your means or field of expertise, blogging is your tool. Academic blogs help provide on-the-spot analysis and run commentary on some of the most crucial issues our society faces today.

2. It Helps You Aggregate Research Work Blogging gives students and scholars to put together research work and assignment information. In addition, it helps in researching information accumulated by researches across the globe through syndication.

3. It Connects You with Professionals When you consistently blog about a subject of your interest, you have the maximum chances of attracting the attention of experts in that field of study. Along with broadening your professional network, this can also open new career opportunities for you.

Steps in creating blogs

– Create a blog

– Change the blog theme

– Create a new post

– Attach a file

Create a blog (Jing video)

Change the blog theme

Create a new post

Attach a file

Summary of blogs

Reference list

• Blogging: Learning Blogs - The Purpose. (n.d.). Retrieved April 1, 2012, from Escrapbooking: http://escrapbooking.com/blogging/blog1.htm

• Haque, O. (2011, March 22). 21 Key Benefits of Blogging. Retrieved April 1, 2012, from Stay On Search: http://www.stayonsearch.com/21-key-benefits-of-blogging

• Laurel A. (2004). Weblogs and libraries. British Library: Cataloguing-in-Publication Data.

• The History of Blogs. (n.d.). Retrieved April 1, 2012, from The University of British Columbia: http://www.slais.ubc.ca/courses/libr500/05-06-wt1/www/A_Cho/history.htm

• Web log. (n.d.). Retrieved April 1, 2012, from Memidex: http://www.memidex.com/web-log