What Is Blog: An Open Ended Mystery?

Most people used to buzz about "what is blog" in the late 1990's. This was the decade when this medium of communication was born and its roots were penetrating very fast and deep. The first thing that needs to be elaborated before moving ahead is to untie the mystery of the phrase "what is blog" in the most effective manner. A blog can be defined in simple words as "The conversation or information made available by an individual or group of people over the World Wide Web i.e. www. These are basically posts which are uploaded discretely at different times and dates by bloggers." Now days, micro-blogging sites (among which twitter is the most prominent one) are attracting millions of people. We are in an era in which people just love to disseminate all kinds of information among their folks. It is one of the cheapest and easiest ways to approach the masses, which has now developed so much that multiple bloggers are using single blogs at a time. Like any picture, a blog has both bright and dark sides that will help us explore the concept of "what is blog" in details. Blogs and Advertising Many giant and small organizations are using blogs as a medium to promote their products and services. They are trying to give a new meaning to what is blog by using it for advertising, promoting and getting customer feedback about their offerings through blog posts. Viral marketing is the new axiom that is gaining popularity due to these social networking activities. These companies pay nominal amounts to groups of people to create a virtual buzz about their business. They accomplish this by updating their blogs regularly and writing positive reviews. Blogs and Academia Many people want to find out the link between blogs and the academic world. Personal and organization maintained blogs are largely used by scientists, teachers and researchers in order to describe different inventions, phenomena and scientific theories. The best part about an Edublog (one that is used for educational purposes) is that one can simply read the post and make his instant comment about it. This swift interaction between writers and readers allows eradicating ambiguity in no time. Blogs and Politics In democratic regimes where the free expression of opinions is allowed, blogs are very successful and reaping phenomenal appreciations among the parliamentarians. Whereas, in the totalitarian regimes where people's communication is greatly influenced by the ones in power, blogs are not liked there. Recently during the revolutionary movement in Egypt, one blogger was arrested because he tried to write against the then president - Hosni Mubarak. These realities about blogging are just a glimpse of the diverse social interface. In reality it is such an extensive topic that requires thousands of words for its elaboration. Each passing day, hundreds of bloggers are plunging into this virtual stream of interaction. "What is blog?" is the question most people have on their minds initially, and after few days you will see them happily blogging away over the internet.