The word blogger refers to someone who posts articles, pictures, or videos on his own personal online site. It was derived from the word blog, which in turn was contracted from the term web log. Web log is a form of online journal or diary where a blogger effectively puts his thoughts, ideas, and stories online via a personal web account. He can either focus on his own personal experiences or concentrate on a single topic that may be of interest to other people.
A blogger posts regularly on his blog, often providing commentary on a wide array of topics such as politics, religion, current events, sports, and art. Other areas of interest include technology, the Internet, celebrities, gadgets, and many more. His blog entries are usually a combination of text, pictures, links, and videos. Some bloggers use free blogging services, while others purchase their own domain name and host their blogs on a paid hosting service. Anybody who has access to the Internet and has something to say about a chosen topic can be a blogger if he wants to.
Most bloggers do not just post entries on their websites. They also encourage the readers to post comments on their entries and engage them in discussions, which can range from civilized and polite to intense and downright nasty. A blogger also engages and socializes with other bloggers in many blogger community sites or social networking sites to get and share new ideas and information. Being a blogger is not just about producing content. It is also about learning, experiencing, and reading other bloggers' entries.
Sometimes, several bloggers work together to maintain a single blog. This gives the blog several voices and keeps the website alive and fresh. Some bloggers choose to join a network of individual blogs to talk about the same topic or a common theme. This collaborative nature in group blogs and blog networks gives blogging a sense of community that fosters new ideas and fresh blog contents. Fresh ideas also come from alternative ways of blogging such as mobile blogging, photoblogging, videoblogging, and podcasting.
Many people depend on trustworthy and reliable bloggers for their daily fix of world and local news. Most old-school media outlets occasionally mention blogs and bloggers as sources for the news that they deliver. Experts on different fields have started to become bloggers themselves to provide information on their expertise to a new burgeoning online audience. Initially seen as individuals who have too much time on their hands talking about their mundane lives, bloggers are slowly turning into prominent and reliable sources of information about a wide spectrum of topics.