Jan

16

So You Want to Start a Blog

Filed Under Blogging 

The New Year is for starting new things.  Did you spend last year wondering about this whole blogging phenomenon?  Was The Sweet Dropper the first blog you ever visited?  Are you starting to think, “Maybe I should start a blog”?  If this describes you, let me offer a little advice.

Should you start a blog?

My simple answer is, “Sure, why not?!”  Blogs aren’t for everyone.  That being said, they are for a whole lot of people.  As of December 2007, Technorati was tracking 112 million blogs.   To give you some perspective, the current population of the United States is a few folks above 300 million.  Blogging is big!  Some people think it is here to stay.  Others say blogging is a passing fad, albeit a very significant passing fad.

I still remember seeing my first blog.  Several years ago, my brother-in-law introduced me to an online journal he had started with a program called movable-type.  Not long after that Google started providing free hosting to blogs using their blogging platform blogger.  I joined up with blogger and was hooked.

Simply put, blogging is publishing online successive posts ordered chronologically.  As to what classifies a post, no one is quite sure and blogdom seems to like it that way.  Some people post diary-like entries, others post opinions, some post pictures of their family, others post pictures of cats with silly captions.  People can and do post most everything.

That leads to the next question.

What should I post? Or, what type of blog should I create?

Most people don’t blog about politics, what they had for lunch, why they liked Sundays sermon, and pictures of their French poodle all at the same site.  It is good to pick a general genre for your blog.  Blog genres, certainly not static, typically fall along three lines for most Christians.

  • A Journal Blog - This type of blog will record the daily events of your life.  Posts can vary from “We did x today” to humorous narratives of unusual events.  For the most part, the people who will read this type of blog will be your friends and family, that is, unless you have a truly fascinating life and know how to write about it.
  • A Theo-Blog - This type of blog examines different aspects of Christian theology.  These blogs cover every conceivable topic withing the church and are written by everyone from world-renowned theologians to relatively uneducated laymen.  If you like to think deeply about theological topics then this is the kind of blog for you.
  • A News Blog - This type of blog usually produces a high output of short posts chronicling news items or posts at other blogs.  Maybe you like reading other blogs and want to post links of your favorite posts by other authors.  Maybe you like to keep track of politics or national news and you want to post all of the days events with brief commentary.  If either of these is true, this type of blog would suit your needs.

Of course, different blogs may mix multiple of the above genres.  Most blogs, however, will fall into one of the three categories above.

Where should I go if I want to start a blog?

Unless you are a computer geek hosting your own domain, you should look into some of the free hosting options.  The two best are blogger and wordpress.  I’ve used both though I currently keep my personal blog at wordpress.com (Mining Grace). Most will agree that both of these services give the new blogger all that they need to get started.

One word of reminder and warning.  A blog is posted on World Wide web.  You are posting things for the whole world to see.  That does not mean that the whole world is going to beat a path to your blog, but it also does not mean that you are posting in anonymity.  May all that you post be seasoned with grace, befitting someone who claims the name of Jesus, giving honor to him and him alone.

If you have just started a blog or start one after reading this post, link to to your blog in the comments below so we can all take a look.

The following are some great blogs that you could check out for ideas:

Signature Joe

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