A blog (web + log) is a website or online journal maintained by an individual or group with regular entries of information, commentary, graphics, and video. Blogs have rapidly become a very popular and inexpensive method of distributing information on the web. Though often created as vehicles for personal expression, they are also used by businesses, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies for a wide variety of purposes. Here are some examples of how blogs could be put to use by volunteer and service programs:

• Coordination: Plan fundraisers, training sessions, service events, and management activities in a password-protected online community just for your project.
• Publishing: Use blog software as the basis for your website, and easily add news and personal notes with basic HTML code.
• Outreach: Many blog packages include powerful tools that allow for linked content that lets users publish to and from the websites of affiliated organizations in your community.
• Community: Because blogs allow for comments and feedback, they give volunteers the ability to share information and become more effective.
• Other: Blogs are useful for staying connected with stakeholders and sharing updates with them, posting recent information, promoting upcoming events, and boosting search engine ratings.

Getting Started

Blogging is as much a social phenomenon as it is an advanced technology. The best way to understand blogs is to investigate a few; the sites listed below have links to blogs created by other users. Keep in mind that everyone's idea of what constitutes "good blogging" is different.

Just as with planning your website, think about what you want your blog to do for your program before you set one up. Your blog should be more than a one-way conduit of information; so how can you use this virtual space to encourage discussion? Are some topics going to be emphasized over others?  In other words, define your goals, your target audience, and the type of content you will provide before getting started.

For first-time bloggers, you might try creating a personal blog before setting one up for your project. Once you're comfortable with blogging, it will be easier to transition use of this tool to your program. Various blogging tools are available for free, and they make it very easy to get started.

For more information on choosing the right blogging tool for your organization, see the article Seven Blogging Tools Reviewed by Tech Soup, which features a review of seven popular blogging tools:

• Blogger
• LiveJournal
• TypePad
• Movable Type
• WordPress
• ExpressionEngine
• TextPattern

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