Why People Create Blogs

People create blogs for different reasons. Blogs are software for publishing web pages. Therefore, a blog can take the form of anything. Some people create a magazine by assembling it from links, text, and pictures on a variety of topics. Others like to devote their blog to a single topic such as French cooking or sea kayaking. Blogging takes a great deal of time and effort. A blog often becomes so popular with readers that its creator feels obligated to keep putting fresh content on the site. One way to combat fatigue and have a life is to recruit a group of people to contribute entries. This type of arrangement takes the pressure off each contributor to provide fresh material on a constant basis.

Services That Provide Blogging Software

Part III, "Building Your Own Blog," provides greater detail about blog publishing software, but here's some quick information on the types of software currently available. Simple versions of most software can be downloaded free from the web addresses provided.

• Movable Type www.sixapart.com/movabletype/. One of the first free publishing software providers, Movable Type is a publishing platform that lets tech-savvy users install the program and create their own customized blogs. Its less technical spin-off is Type Pad, which creates and hosts blogs for users who are not interested in learning the more technical aspects of publishing web pages.

• LiveJournal www.livejournal.com. LiveJournal is a simple-to-use personal publishing tool, built on open-source software, that is easy to use and customizable. It is used mainly by people interested in keeping online diaries.

• Blogger www.blogger.com. In 1999 Pyra Labs created one of the first free publishing software providers. The program works best with Internet Explorer web browsers and has a separate site that hosts other people's blog pages called Blogspot. Google.com purchased Blogger in 2002.

• Tripod Blog Builder www.tripod.lycos.com/. This free website construction program offers an option to create simple blogs as well as web pages or online commerce sites.

• MSN Spaces www.msnspaces.com/Default.aspx. This free service from Microsoft's website gives users enough free web space to create a blog, store photographs, and customize the style and layout of their web pages.

• Yahoo! 360 www.360.yahoo.com/. Yahoo! has developed its own blog publishing system that's accessible to all Yahoo! email account holders. This software system is still in the testing stages but is on offer to Yahoo! mail holders.