Q. Who Uses Blogs?
A. Just about anyone can use a blog!
In fact, according to a Technorati report, there are approximately three million
blogs being tracked by mid-2004. And, that number is continuously growing as
blog software, tools and other applications become more accessible to
individuals.
Blog users are as varied as the types of blogs available. However, they may be
categorized in to four main types: personal bloggers, business bloggers,
organizational bloggers and professional bloggers.
Personal bloggers often create blogs that contain diary or journal-type
entries. Some focus their blogs on specific themes or topics that they feel
passionately about like sports, technology, education, news, politics, pets,
writing, art or photography.
Business bloggers create blogs to promote their products and/or services.
Although these business or commercial blogs typically use this online medium as
a promotional or marketing tool, the more successful ones do not contain
advertisements or 'marketese' in their blog entries. Their blogs have to offer
real, usable information for readers like reviews, comments, links to relevant
articles and similar resources.
Organizational bloggers are people who blog as a way to communicate
internally (with fellow employees, students, etc.) and/or externally (with
clients, general public, etc.). These types of bloggers may be found in
corporations, educational settings, non-profit organizations, and community
clubs, among others.
Professional bloggers are considered a rare breed in the blogging
community. These are people who are actually hired or paid to blog. They may
either propose their own blog topics to a blogging network like The Weblogs,
Inc. by Jason Calacanis or they may be hired to write about a specific topic by
a network or a company. An example of the latter is someone like Helen Jane
Yeager, who was hired to become a professional Hollywood blogger.
As the popularity of blogging grows, more and more individuals are finding
different ways to use blogs. US Presidential Candidates in 2004, for example,
have started using blogs as part of their campaign strategy. It will not be
surprising, therefore, if more types of people begin to use blogs. About.com
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