• Section: Money Guide - Category: Blogging for Cash
• Written by Michael C. Podle

Often, innovations arising from technological advances become truly profound only after some kind of commonly available way to leverage their potential emerges.

With the explosion of Internet growth during the 1990s, users sought broader mechanisms for both collaborating and sharing personal information; it was one thing to browse corporate websites or dredge through newsgroups, but with friendlier tools, more numerous providers and increasing old media attention, exponential growth in blogging, the online posting of various logs and journals, was a matter of time. Since, blogging has become an integral part of Internet culture, new media and online communication. From the posting of personal journals and pet pictures up to the influence of political parties and the near-immediate validation of traditional journalism, the impact of this medium has become undeniable.

In its simplest form, blogging is posting of chronological journal entries, with the newest at

the top of the page, allowing the viewer to see the most current posts first. There are generally mechanisms to capture review previous periods' posts in archives and to comment or send trackbacks. Groups of blogs covering similar ideas might group together as communities or provide links to posts with complementary content.

Quality varies as much as can be imagined; content, a key to a blog's success, can encompass nearly anything, from the personal to the political, the corporate marketing ploy to the technical help site, the news link to the ill-informed rant. Since blogs are now thought to number in the millions, with thousands more joining each day, sorting through to find appropriate and useful content can be challenging. The types of blogs available are numerous and vary from text-based journal entries to video or audio podcasts. With minor investments in equipment, a little internet savvy and some interesting ideas, a successful online presence can be created - likely finding an audience willing to look in unorthodox places for desired content.

But the true power of this concept is not in its passive cool, but the relative impact it has induced. Nearly anyone with Internet access can become a blogger, making this technology seriously innovative

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