video blog |
BLOGGING PLATFORMS |
Movable Type and WordPress are the two most popular server-installed programs and each gets a page that clarifies how they work after instal-lation. Then I move on to Radio UserLand, a blog program and service that is installed on your PC and connects to a server where your blog actually lives.That setup is unique, and Chapter 11 explains it completely.
Many people have heard of Weblogs (blogs), but in this part define blogs at length and with crystalclear illumination. Peruse these chapters, and you’ll know more than most teenagers — and that’s really saying something.
Another study in the summer of 2005 put the number of blog readers somewhat lower, but discovered something amazing about those people who did read blogs: about twothirds of them didn’t know what a blog was.
Ever since the lead-up to the 2004 U.S. presidential election, Weblogs have been in the news. Many articles reporting on the blog phenomenon take a stab at defining them, but these halfhearted attempts don’t go far in educat- ing the masses of people who are a bit puzzled by the whole “blog thing.” Are blogs 21st-century news outlets? Fund-raising gimmicks? Online diaries? Self expression for teenagers? Are they Web sites or something different? Are bloggers journalists, columnists, or celebrities, or can anyone be a blogger?
Is there money in it? Many people have heard of blogs and even read them but don’t really know what they are.
As for creating a blog, despite the millions who have already started one, millions more don’t know where to begin. They hear that it’s easy, but nothing is easy without a nudge in the right direction. This book provides that productive push toward the easy answers and also explains more challenging solutions for ambitious readers who want greater control over how their blogs look and operate. This chapter sets the stage by defining Weblogs and blogging from every angle, and then touching down on all aspects of the blogosphere,from new ways to read other people’s blogs to terms you should know (such asblogosphere, which simply means the universe of blogs and bloggers).
There’s a refreshing piece of news in all this: Kids don’t necessarily know more than you do about blogs and blogging. The subject is fairly new, even to them.Many kids do blog, but starting a blog in one of the easy services doesn’t, by itself, give anyone an overview of the whole scene.
With a provocative headline like that, you might expect a scandalous revelation, such as, “Weblogs Slept with American Idol Contestant.” But no, this section just answers the question: “What the heck is a blog, anyway?” First and foremost, don’t be confused by my interchangeable use of Weblog and blog. Blog is simply a contraction of Weblog. However, people who write blogs are called bloggers — never Webloggers. Blogging is a verb; Weblogging is the utterance of an ill-informed person.