Michaelocity!

A blog, or Web log, is a public Internet journal written by one person or a group of people. Blogs contain journal entries written by the author, who’s referred to as a blogger. Most blogs display the most recent entry at the top of the Web page, with previous entries below that in reverse chronological order.

Blogging has revolutionized Internet publishing in the last several years because it gives everyone with Internet access the opportunity to become an online writer. Whether they want to talk about culture, politics, the Internet or their favorite hobbies, bloggers have popped up everywhere. Experts estimate there are at least five million blogs online today, and every day, thousands of people become bloggers for the first time.

Bloggers have different reasons for creating a blog. Some bloggers just like to generate debate. Others use blogging as civic journalists, writing news stories you might otherwise not see in mainstream media. Organizations often use blogs to publish newsletters, or share resources with their colleagues. Even students blog to publish their classroom writings online for peer review. But generally, most people blog because they feel they have something important to say, and are empowered by expressing themselves over the Internet. Whether it’s a casual hobby or an intense avocation, blogging is a wonderful way to share your ideas with others.

There are primarily two types of blog setups – Free Hosted Blogs or Server-Based Blogs. In order to give you a better understanding of the blogging world, i’ve decided to cover both categories. I will detail the four most popular options on the web now and show how to set up your own personal blog with them.

LiveJournal:

1) First you head over to http://www.livejournal.com/ and  click on “Create an Account” or “Create a Journal”

2) Fill out the quick registration forma and then you are taken to the account level selection screen.  This is where you choose whether you want  a Basic Blog (FREE),  a Plus Blog (also FREE) or a Paid Blog (not free… but i’m assuming you guessed that already).  For the diffrences between account types (too many to list for this post) head over to the LiveJournal website.
3) For the purpose of this article I selected the Basic Blog, one of the free options. After selecting the blog type, you then have the option to fill out your bio and interests or you can skip this step.  Once you fill out your bio or skip that step you are basically finished with the account setup, and are ready to create your first post!

Registration was fast an easy here.  My only gripe is that their user interface may be a bit too complicated for a beginning blogger.

Blogger:

Practically the same process as above.  Head over to blogger.com and register for an account.  One of the first things you should know is that blogger is OWNED by GOOGLE.

Yes, that Google.

If you already have an existing gmail or google account all you have to do is log in, name your blog, and choose a template design and your DONE.

If you DON’T have a google account you first have to sign up for one at the blogger.com homepage.  Then you choose a Blog Title (like Michaelocity), and choose your sites url (example: michaelocity.blogspot.com).  All blogger sites have are named yourname.blogspot.com, with the yourname being whatever name you choose.

After you successfully pick your blogs name and URL, you then have to choose a template. A template is simply your sites design and layout.  Choose something easy to read and bright, as this makes your site more visually appealing to your visitors.   After the template is picked you are ready to begin posting entries!

I personally find Blogger to be the easiest to use free option, with a quick sign up process, clear  directions and many options.  I recommend it for 99% of beginning bloggers. The fact that Google owns them doesn’t hurt either.