Editing Blog (section)

{{short description|Discussion or informational site published on the internet}}
{{redirect|Blogger|the Google service|Blogger (service)|other uses|Blog (disambiguation)}}
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A '''blog''' (a [[Clipping (morphology)|truncation]] of "'''weblog'''")<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rebeccablood.net/essays/weblog_history.html|title=Weblogs: A History And Perspective|last=Blood|first=Rebecca|date=September 7, 2000|access-date=September 2, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150530144950/http://www.rebeccablood.net/essays/weblog_history.html|archive-date=May 30, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> is an informational [[website]] consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in [[Reverse chronology|reverse chronological order]] so that the most recent post appears first, at the top of the [[web page]]. In the 2000s, blogs were often the work of a single individual, occasionally of a small group, and often covered a single subject or topic. In the 2010s, multi-author blogs (MABs) emerged, featuring the writing of multiple [[author]]s and sometimes professionally [[Editing|edited]]. MABs from [[newspaper]]s, other [[News media|media outlet]]s, universities, [[think tank]]s, [[advocacy group]]s, and similar institutions account for an increasing quantity of blog [[Web traffic|traffic]]. The rise of [[Twitter]] and other "[[microblogging]]" systems helps integrate MABs and single-author blogs into the [[news media]]. ''Blog'' can also be used as a verb, meaning ''to maintain or add content to a blog''.

The emergence and growth of blogs in the late 1990s coincided with the advent of web publishing tools that facilitated the posting of content by non-technical users who did not have much experience with [[HTML]] or [[computer programming]]. Previously, knowledge of such technologies as HTML and [[File Transfer Protocol]] had been required to publish content on the Web, and early Web users therefore tended to be [[hacker]]s and computer enthusiasts. As of the 2010s, the majority are interactive [[Web 2.0]] websites, allowing visitors to leave online comments, and it is this interactivity that distinguishes them from other static websites.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Mutum|first1=Dilip|last2=Wang|first2=Qing|editor=Neal M. Burns |editor2=Terry Daugherty |editor3=Matthew S. Eastin|title=Handbook of Research on Digital Media and Advertising: User Generated Content Consumption|volume=1|year=2010|publisher=IGI Global|pages=248–261|chapter=Consumer Generated Advertising in Blogs}}</ref> In that sense, blogging can be seen as a form of [[social networking service]]. Indeed, bloggers not only produce content to post on their blogs but also often build social relations with their readers and other bloggers.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Gaudeul, Alexia  |author2=Peroni, Chiara  |name-list-style=amp |year=2010|url=https://ideas.repec.org/a/ebl/ecbull/eb-10-00198.html |title=Reciprocal attention and norm of reciprocity in blogging networks|journal=[[Economics Bulletin]]|volume=30|issue=3|pages=2230–2248}}</ref> Blog owners or authors often [[Internet forum#Moderators|moderate]] and [[Wordfilter|filter]] online comments to remove [[hate speech]] or other offensive content. There are also high-readership blogs which do not allow comments.

Many blogs provide commentary on a particular subject or topic, ranging from [[philosophy]], [[religion]], and [[art]]s to [[science]], [[politics]], and [[sport]]s. Others function as more personal [[online diary|online diaries]] or [[online advertising|online brand advertising]] of a particular individual or company. A typical blog combines text, [[digital image]]s, and [[Hyperlink|link]]s to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art (''[[art blog]]s''), photographs (''[[photoblog]]s''), videos (''[[video blog]]s'' or ''vlogs''), music (''[[MP3 blog]]s''), and audio (''[[podcast]]s''). In education, blogs can be used as instructional resources; these are referred to as ''[[edublog]]s''. [[Microblogging]] is another type of blogging, featuring very short posts.

''Blog'' and ''blogging'' are now loosely used for content creation and sharing on [[social media]], especially when the content is long-form and one creates and shares content on a regular basis, so one could be maintaining a blog on [[Facebook]] or blogging on [[Instagram]]. A 2022 estimate suggested that there were over 600 million public blogs out of more than 1.9 billion websites.<ref>{{Cite web |author=Si Quan Ong |date=2022-02-03 |title=71 Blogging Statistics for 2022 |url=https://ahrefs.com/blog/blogging-statistics/ |access-date=2022-12-30 |website=SEO Blog by Ahrefs |language=en}}</ref>