A: Why are Weblogs (blogs) Important and Should I Blog?

Blogs are important because they’re an easy, effective way to exercise free speech, communicate, and publish useful information. Everyone on the internet has the ability to blog, and individuals tend to have unique thoughts regarding particular subjects, so what better way to share these thoughts than blogging? Communication, in addition to useful contribution by intelligent individuals, is what the Internet is all about. The expression of thoughts, ideas, knowledge, and simple how-to’s are no longer restricted by censors controlling what’s acceptable - this thought alone fuels the fire behind many popular blogs today.

A Brief History Lesson: How Information Was Shared

Figures worth mention in history books shared important messages in a variety of ways: marathons, horseback, word of mouth, public speaking, printed press, and eventually televised media, just to name a few. Enter the Internet. At first, people were reluctant to join the World Wide Web, but as technology progressed, and computers became cheaper, even the hippy generation of baby boomer’s couldn’t resist. Even my Mom couldn’t resist the temptation of sharing her rebellious thoughts. Blog’s like rawstory, crooksandliars.com, thinkprogress.com, and many others really reduce the level of effort required to broadcast information.

The Perfect Example

A perfect example is September 11th, 2001. Before major media broadcaster’s had the opportunity to cover the story, New-York bloggers were already writing about the tragic events from their high rise offices. Social news sites like digg or reddit make news available to the world within minutes - instead of days compared to television. News isn’t new if the events reported took place two days ago.

Should I Blog?

If you’re interested in sharing information with others, have the privilege of knowing niche specific information before the common public, or just enjoy writing, yes, blog your heart out. This site exists to aid people with technical issues, something I’m passionate about. I enjoy sharing my knowledge with those willing to learn.

How do I get started?

There are a variety of free providers that can get you on your way with very minimal effort. Here are a few popular, free blog providers:

• Blogspot
• Wordpress.com
• Blogger
• Blog.com
• Blogster

A simple google search will reveal hundreds of free blog hosting providers. If you already own a web-hosting account that provides web-space, email your support staff regarding which blogging software is available for installation through your control panel if they offer one. If your provider doesn’t offer on-the-fly blogging software installations, I highly recommend downloading wordpress.org/latest.tar.gz and setting it up yourself. It’s painless, and takes less than five minutes to get everything setup and running.