First Blog Anniversary

I started this blog exactly a year ago, so today (June 18th,09) is its first anniversary. The blog ‘TheTechTalker.com‘, in early days was called as ‘T3c-n0-cr@t : The Blog-e-zine’. It currently contains 82 posts and 118 comments, and has more than 19,000 hits till now. Unfortunately it also attracts a huge amount of spam posts – fortunately the WordPress spam filters catch most of these.

When I took my first tentative steps into the blogsphere, I was a bit worried that I wouldn’t be able to find enough time to write. But so far I’ve managed to write at-least 3 to 4 posts a month, if not more. While perhaps not every post is a perfectly honed gem, I do try my best to make them interesting and informative.

Going onwards, I would definitely try to write more often and provide quality content.

Thank-you dear readers for watching this space, for allowing my experiences, my thoughts, likes & dislikes.

What Does Blogging Mean?

Blog is the condensed name for a “weblog” or “web log”.

Blogging is the action you perform when you make a post to a web log or blog, comment on a previous blog post or maintain a blog. Many people who make posts to a blog on a regular basis are referred to as bloggers.

Basically, a blog is an online journal where you can post your thoughts, observations and comments about a particular topic that the weblog covers. A blog is just a simple web page that has chunks of information called posts added to them on a regular basis. Depending on how it was setup by the person maintaining the blog, the posts can be all on one page forcing visitors to scroll down, or each post will have its own individual web page. When you are blogging and visiting different blogs, you will see the most recent posts first at the top of the web page.

Official definition of Blog from Wikipedia is:
A blog (a contraction of the term “Web log”) is a Web site, usually maintained by an individual, with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. “Blog” can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

The Uses of Blogging

Online personal journals were some of the first blogs. Individuals used their computers and the technology of the internet to make entries into their journals rather than the traditional method of keeping a pen and paper journal. Blogs are primarily categorized as personal since many of them are online journals but today many blogs are used for a variety of purposes. Businesses are starting to use blogs as a way to provide information about their products and services. Politicians are using blogs to communicate with their constituents. Musicians and other entertainers are using blogging as a means to stay in touch with their fans as they tour. The list goes on.

Often, blogging is a way for you the individual to post a comment on a particular news item or subject such as politics, world or local news events, hobbies, entertainment etc. The topics covered in a blog are endless, and many times controversial and volatile. Sometimes one simple post can lead to a flood of additional comments and many have gone so far as to gain national attention by being mentioned in the news media.

Blogging Software and Services

Originally, blog posts are mostly text based. However, changes in internet technology and online services have given rise to other ways to make posts such as using video and audio (also known as podcasting). Now today a typical blog will have a combination of text, photos, video, and audio as well as links to other blogs and websites that are related to the topic of the blog.

Blogging has taken off and grown in popularity over the years. Now, a blog can be setup in a matter of minutes with little or no cost. There are varieties of hosting sites that will allow you to setup a blog free, and many web hosts now offer ways to quickly and easily install a variety of blogging software such as WordPress.

Along with quickly setting up a blog, many of the free online blogging services easily provide ways to allow you to make video and audio posts on your blog. They also offer other features such as password protecting your blog so you can keep your thoughts and feelings private, or allow only a select few in to view your blog. You are also able to pick the look or theme of your blog from literally thousands of different templates available; this is a great way to express your own individuality with your blog.

Couple of the most widely used free blogging services today are WordPress.com & Blogger.com (owned by Google). In few easy steps, you can setup your very own blog and start expressing your thoughts and views to the world. After you setup your blog, you can make posts to it at any time day or night. The blogging services today are so easy to use and you do not need to have any technical knowledge of HTML or any other web coding language. In fact, if you can use a word processing program such as Notepad or MSWord, you can start blogging today.

How Blogging Benefits You

Blogging has been mostly been used for personal thoughts, professional observations, political rants, and entertainment reviews. However, there are so many more reasons to start blogging. You can even stay connected with your family and friends. Through blogging, you can to stay connected and share things even though you may live thousands of miles apart. You can share photos and post videos and audio files that let us remain a part of each other’s lives.

Through your blog, you can share with the world your thoughts about any topic you like. Having a blog is one of the easiest ways to stay in contact with others and communicate with others who have the same interests that you do. Everyone has something to say and wants to be heard when they say it. Blogging allows you to share your experiences, joys, laughter and pain. With a blog, you can find answers to your questions, learn new, exciting and wonderful things, comfort a friend or be comforted at times. Remember, the benefits that can come from having a blog are as wide and varied as the different topics that a blog can cover.