Why Did You Come to This Site?

Because...
(a) you're a friend.
(b) you're my parents and you love me.
(c) you received an e-mail saying, "Check this out!"
(d) you went surfing through Blogspot for answers about life.

If you answered a, b, or c, this post is for you. If you answered d, you can stick around or browse around. Whatever.

First of all, thank you all for stopping by for a visit. That reminds me of Frost. Hehehe.

Anyway, from talking to many of you I know you are among the 68% of online Americans who don't even know what a blog is. If you're here. You're experiencing a blog RIGHT NOW!

A blog is a web-based publication that is published in reverse chronological order. The newest post is the first one you see, aye? It's short for Web log. A person who maintains a blog is called blogger, and the act of maintaining a blog is called blogging. There will be test on this Friday. Okay? Can we move on to important stuff? It'll be fun, I promise!

The largest use of blogs is probably by journalists--both professional and wannabes. To me, it's a little overwhelming deciding on who has the most accurate news. I mean I already distrust journalists and their spinning. I could just discount all of the blog journalists out there, but some of them have much integrity. So, yeah for them!

There are also quite a few blogs out there that act as forums or discussion boards for workplaces and learning environments. This is a really great format to get news and information out within a workplace--not to mention for people to post opinions, ideas, and concerns. Great communication tool! I wonder how it would be if my workplace used blogs instead of 20 e-mails a day to post important news. Hmmm. Would it be more efficient? And then the learning environment usage. That's a big reason why I am here trying out this blogging stuff, but I'm still working that out. There will be more posts on some ideas I might have on how to use it in my classroom. Or read the one I wrote recently.

There are a lot of blogs out there that are selling things or are like a destination from a search engine. Those irritate me. I wouldn't even mention them except I keep bumping into them on my Internet travels. Beware!

Some people are using blogs to keep in touch with family and friends from afar. Better than e-mail! Post it once. Then everyone comes to your blog to check out what's new. This idea really warms my heart! You can see your grandchildren grow up from hundreds of miles away after all! I wonder if this might be the new scrapbooking?

A lot of blogs are for people like me who want to express themselves artistically, whether it be through writing or visual art. I've been quite inspired this summer, so I hope to maintain some writing--maybe just creative thoughts on everyday topics. It's a free way to publish myself--even if nobody except my husband reads it. "Honey! Go to my blog! I just posted!" As if he couldn't just read over my shoulder. It's more for my enjoyment, I guess.

Although I am really excited by my new project, blogs have been around a long time. Some web designers who linked interesting websites started it all. But you know, those guys and gals are always way ahead of the rest of us. They're probably going around saying, "Blogs! That's so 1999!" and using some other really cool technology we cannot even fathom. Now there are so many blogging sites out there that it was a little overwhelming to decide where to go. Blogger is the best known blogging tool. (Diaryland and Pitas were apparently the first, though.) So, I stuck with what is most popular. Oh, and I happened to buy a book because I didn't know if I'd figure it out. Turns out it wasn't TOO challenging.

If any of you are interested in trying out blogging--or have a blog, let me know! I'll figure out how to post a link to your page. (It's on page 41 of my book.) That's how people find a lot of blogs--by the links they find from other blogs. How do you let me know? Leave a comment. Under each posting you can comment. So, don't be voyuers. At least say hi!

Thanks for stopping by!

If you want to see some other blogs, good and bad, look at the top of screen. There is a button that says NEXT BLOG. It will randomly take you through other blogs at blogspot.com. You'll see the good and the bad--not to mention maybe even learn some new languages along the way.
But...

If you really could care less about blogging, you're not the only one!