A blog is a lot like an online journal, but it can be written by a number of people, or by just one person. Each post is written on a website in chronological order, but usually displayed in reverse order. The term 'blogging' or 'blog' can also be used as a verb to imply an action - in other words, that of posting a comment on a blog.

The term 'blog' is derived from Jorn Barger's term 'weblog' and is said to have sprung into being when Peter Merholz separated it into the two words 'we blog' on his site as a joke.

When people communicate using a blog, they are likely discussing a specific subject of interest for them. So, if anyone wishes to learn what's the best red widget to buy for his boat, others will write in with their comment on how that particular widget worked - or didn't work. Blogs are ideal for uncovering what other folk's experiences have been with whatever you can think of.

If some individual is knowledgeable on some sunject with a lot of experience that others can benefit from, then he may start up a blog about it and offer insights. He may in addition offer links to other sites that market things applicable to the area of expertise. Then again he may offer links to other articles or other blogs connected with the same subject.

Blogs utilize both images and text, nevertheless some blogs focus on art (artblog), videos (vlog), photographs (photoblog) and audio, that is, podcasting or MP3. Blogs can be long or short, but those that are unusually short are referred to as micro-blogging. Blogs are usually updated frequently and the technology utilized today allows people who know very little about it to become confident bloggers with just a small learning curve.

Early on, bloggers called themselves diarists, journalers, or even escribitionists. A comment or article placed on a blog is called a post, a blog post or an entry. Aged blogs on a topic are sometimes referred to as 'archives' and may be maintained on a different page or pages that are accessed via a hyperlink. There are at times a variety of links - like the index at the end of a book and they are found on the left or right of the blogging page.

The beauty of blogging is that people who have the same interests can all join together and talk about, getting to know each other (so to speak) at the same time.