Crabby Office Lady

How many blogs are out there on the Web? Your guess is as good as mine. A whole lot. But what exactly are blogs? And, how can you start your own?

Blog it and they will come.

So is the hope of every blogger — or Web diarist — out there. And because everyone, whether he or she admits or not, wants to be heard...a blog offers the perfect environment for just that.

Several of my readers have written to ask me what blogs ("Web" + "logs" = "blogs") are all about. I have to admit, I was curious, too. So I did some research on the brave new world of Web content out there.

Some blogs are pointless, others narcissistic, and yet others downright weird, yes. But I also discovered that there are many interesting writers out there, offering their own unique perspective on the world around them. In other words, I was pleasantly surprised, and it sucked the crabbiness right out of me (for about two minutes).

Blogs versus personal Web pages

When the Internet first became a part of our common lexicon and people got a tiny amount of technical knowledge, personal Web pages became all the rage (and bane) of the Internet. I don't know how many of them are on the 'Net, but I think I can safely say too many.

Blogs are a little different. While a blog can have many of the same qualities as a personal Web page, a blog is usually seen as more of a diary or a commentary, a foundation upon which a virtual community can form. (At least, that's my take on it, and from what I've read, there are as as many definitions for blog as there are bloggers.)

Bloggers write about whatever is on their minds, be it personal, philosophical, or political. And, with a click, their opinions are out there for all to read. Their audience might just offer their opinions in return, and pretty soon, a community has been created around one of their entries or ideas. And while personal Web pages (at least at the beginning) were pretty much only for those who knew how to code a Web page, blogs can be created by anyone with an Internet connection, since those who host blogs often provide the simple software and design choices that enable non-techie types to express themselves on the Web.

 Note   Now, if you're all hot to create a blog of your own, visit Windows Live Spaces. They make it nice and easy to get started and make your voice heard.

So, what do people blog about? There are blogs about hairless cats, blogs about politics, blogs extolling the virtues of nudist colonies, and blogs that serve the close-knit community of scientists studying the mating habits of paramecium. In other words, there are almost as many blogs as there are reasons to blog.

A blog by any other name is still a weird word

As I mentioned, as human beings, we have this need to express ourselves, and a blog is the perfect place to do that. Now, expression, as we know, comes in many forms, and so do blogs. Some blogs are strictly text-based: the blogger writes an entry every day, week, or however often he decides. If he develops a following of sorts, the audience expects to see his entries at certain intervals, and so a sort of community is formed. Some blogs incorporate photos, video clips, and lists, such as a list of links to other blogs or any other kind of sites. It's standard now that readers of blogs are encouraged to contribute comments, thereby enhancing the feeling of community.

So you can see why this type of communication is really catching on: If you nurture and pay attention to your blog, you can create a community out of thin air around yourself and your interests. For example, consider the blogs that gained notoriety during the last national election: Many of these bloggers became somewhat famous as their communities grew, and they were granted entry into the circles normally reserved for mainstream journalists.

Blogs can also be oriented toward business; they can perform such duties as exposing new products, or acting as forums to talk about everything from new inventions to changes in business practices. Imagine the countless ways in which you can reach, connect, and correspond with your current — and prospective — customers.

You can see why blogs are growing more popular: It only takes a few minutes to set up a blog and it doesn't require that you be a computer geek.

Everyone else has one; Crabby wants one too

...and so now I have one. That's right: Crabby has her own blog. I just started it, and it's not going to replace my column. Rather it will supplement what I have to say — only in fewer words. And this will be a great opportunity for us to get a conversation going. Because as it stands now, I write a column, you send a comment ... and that's it. I rarely get to "chat" one-on-one with you, my readers. And that's the point of a blog (MINE anyway): to develop community.

Of course, you can subscribe to my blog using RSS, or Really Simple Syndication. RSS allows you to subscribe to "feeds," or content, from several sources and automatically combines the information into one list, a list that is contained in an RSS reader. You can quickly browse the list without visiting each site to search for new information of interest to you. It's ingenious, really; you don't have to bookmark all your favorite sites (such as my archive page); you just check in with your reader, see what's new and read what you want.

While I'm on the subject, you may want to check out the Office Hours blog where you can get insights and information from people on the "inside," from the Microsofties who create, develop, and write about Office.

Let me know if you do start a blog!

"People seem not to see that their opinion of the world is also a confession of their character." — Ralph Waldo Emerson

About the author

Annik Stahl, the Crabby Office Lady columnist, takes all of your complaints, compliments, and knee-jerk reactions to heart. Therefore, she graciously asks that you let her know whether this column was useful to you — or not — by entering your feedback using the Was this information helpful? tool below. And remember: If you don't vote, you can't complain.