A blog (abbreviated for weblog) is a website where entries are written in chronological order with the most recent article at the top and older files available through listed archives.
Weblogs are most often about a specific topic but can cover a wide range of subjects, particularly in the case of personal blogs, which tend to be eclectic compositions of daily life entries, opinions, and personal interests as opposed to focused blogs.
As an example: some blog covers the topic of making money online– a rather broad topic which is narrowed by the fact that only advertising networks and affiliate programs are covered, leaving out e-commerce and other online money-making possibilities. In contrast, the personal blog covers everything from pregnancy to recipes.
Frequent characteristics of a blog include the option for readers to leave public-viewed comments attached to each individual posting, a Blogroll or list of links to related websites and articles, and Feeds- allowing readers to subscribe to the blog using a feed reader. In addition, while most blogs are primarily textual, others focus on images, videos, music, and podcasting.
Types of Blogs
Blogs are designed now using various types of media. Textual is the most obvious, with the majority of blogs falling into this category. More blogs are expanding outside of the written word, taking their role as a blogger to an all-new level.
Photoblog- a blog comprised of photos. While Photoblog entries generally still contain text, it is usually minimal, leaving the focus on the posted images. Flickr is currently the most popular photo blogging service.
Moblog- blogging on the go! These blogs are updated via mobile devices including cameraphones and texts.
Vlog- blogs composed from frequently posted videos is one of the fasted growing forms of the blog today, particularly through the help of YouTube, which was launched in 2005 and spurred Vlog popularity.
Sketchblog- a new form of blog in the form of a sketch portfolio.
Blogs with shorter posts and mixed media types are called tumblelogs.