Thanks for the suggestions Lisa. I never thought about captcha scripts as I don't use them, but it makes a lot of sense so I'll include that with my first few posts. Great tip as well about including notes in the templates. I often overlook something that is natural to me but complete greek to a beginner, I'll have to work on that.
Nick, I think you nailed it on the head because I too had the same view of blogs as you. When I got to thinking about them, though, and actually trying to deconstruct them and figure out why they've become so popular I came up with a few points.
I think the main reason they've become such a big thing is that the format of a blog makes it fairly simple for someone with very limited web knowledge to set up a website in a very short time and be online with limited effort. Anyone can get content online about anything they want without much effort at all. And yes, there are a countless amount of blogs out there that are completely useless to anyone except the person that published it and his friends that are in awe of it.
Another reason I think they are so popular is that it gives people the ability to learn all about something they may be a bit interested in. The problem with that, however, is they only get one point of view and it may be total BS. If someone does not do a bit of research it will lead to more misinformation than actual knowledge. Like I said, there are a lot of bad blogs out there.
The good part about them, though, is that if you do want to find out about any subject, you can more than likely find a blog on it. If you're interested in information about what its like to be a professional worm farmer in Albania you can probably find a blog from one (provided the aforementioned farmer actually exists). The farmer in question would probably never have taken the time to put together a website about this, but when you can type what is on your mind and click a button and have the entire world immediately have access to what is on your mind, well, that's power, right?
As web designers we have been able to do this for years. But I'm betting that you, like me, have spent countless hours and cases of alleve in the attempt to learn how to do that. It is now no longer necessary. Just click buttons and you have your own virtual real estate without the headaches. I think that is the key to it. All a blog is is a prebuilt website that is little or no maintenance. Just type your content and click - your done. So in that respect I think they are here to stay in one form or another.
I look at it like this: a site like myspace creates communities where everyone is in the same place. Blogs create neighborhoods in which each person has their own space but each knows where to go to find the other, always.
I honestly don't know anything about SBI so I don't know if that is the reason around here. I think for the most part, as with anywhere else, it boils down to the ease of use for the average user.
I decided to create one because it is a format people are used to now. People that started to use the web around the same time blogs showed up are just used to getting information in that format. I think if they go to an "actual website" they are looking to purchase something in particular and, before they do that, they get all their information from someone's blog. Another reason they are such a perfect format for affiliate-type programs.
Sorry my post is so long, just babblin' I guess...
*Absolutely no Albanian worm farmers were harmed in the placing of this post.
Your opinion about blogs. (please...)
Get your visitors involved my man!
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