“What is the use of blogging?” There are as many answers to that question as there are individuals or businesses. Yet that’s one of the answers, as individuals can blog for personal uses, while businesses might set up blogs to inform and get feedback from customers. A solitary person, on the other hand, may keep the blog as a diary or as a connection to a wider online community. And we can’t forget the blogs that gossip and provide news about the doings of public figures. It’s when you view blogs as part of a community, though, that the possibilities really open up in front of you. You could be part of what is a fairly quiet blogging community centered on interests like recipes or pets, or you could participate in health-related groups that offer advice and information. The new social media have embraced blogs along with discussion forums and photo sites. And then there are those more avant-garde communities that can really get the adrenaline flowing. A political blog where all the writer does is attack opponents on the “other side” might be what is generally considered to be a mere vanity site, and a loud one at that. [...]

Just as people have settled comfortably into maintaining their text-based blogs, along comes video blogging to expand the medium yet again. Now there is a dimension that can be achieved that goes beyond the static blogs of text and photographs. Videos add vivid life to the information and opinion presented on a blog, thus creating a bridge between the once separate worlds of text and film. With a video blog entry, the primary means of communication is the video itself rather than the written word, although text will label or augment what the viewer sees, and can certainly be used within the video itself. But in many respects, this type of blog works the same as one that is mainly text-based. It is viewable on a regular blog page, will be updated regularly, and still involves the creator choosing what information or opinions to convey. Much of the structure on the website is also the same, with viewers given space for comments and interaction. If people are wary of trying video blogging themselves because they lack experience, then they need not worry. In the same way that hosting sites created software for text-based blogs, there is now blogging software designed [...]