Introduction

Blogging is something that is very much in flux, as the new technologies that appear every day redefine what a blog is, what a blog can be, and what a blog should do.

Today, virtually anyone can use a computer, cell phone, or wireless PDA that's connected to the internet to become a blogger. Becoming a blogger offers quick and easy access to an audience comprised of potentially millions of people. Thanks to free services like Blogger.com, TypePad. com, WordPress.com, Facebook.com and many others.

However, whether or not their blog will generate a following, capture the attention of people, and appeal to its target audience is another matter altogether.

For many years, blogs were defined as text-based websites that kept records of days, similar to a captain's log on a sailing ship. However, this started to change as the group of people who kept blogs became more diverse. The more bloggers began to explore the limits of the medium and of the technology that made it possible, the more the boundaries of what could be called a "blog" expanded.

Today, there are an abundance of photo blogs, and there are even video blogs, podcasts and webcasts as well. Mobile blogging devices may well change the definition of blogging entirely by making it possible for bloggers to create new kinds of posts. Another element of the blogosphere that is starting to redefine blogging is the corporate blog. As more companies hire writers to keep blogs with the sole purpose of creating positive buzz about their brand.

Between all of these different forces that are constantly expanding and reshaping the blogosphere, it is difficult to imagine that the definition of what is and is not a blog will ever remain fixed for very long.