Blogs are web logs that allow people to share information on any topic. Bloggers participate in influencing public opinion as speakers and writers in the public square. Great bloggers speak with informed, personal authority through an honest, lively voice and engage readers in productive conversations through comments. To write a great blog, one should write about their passions and admit when they don't know something, seeing their posts as the start of a discussion rather than the final word. Linking to other blogs and commenting on them helps bloggers become more visible and bring in more readers.

1. Blogs What is a blog? Web log: A blog is merely a tool that lets you do anything from change the world to share your shopping list. In a PressThink post from 2004 that rings true today, New York University journalism professor Jay Rosen described bloggers as “speakers and writers of their own invention, at large in the public square. They’re participating in the great game of influence called public opinion. And they’re developing, mostly through labors of love, what I’ve called an extremely democratic media tool.” 95 percent of the top 100 newspapers feature reporter blogs

2. Types of blogs Personal blogs News blogs Entertainment blogs Corporate blogs Opinion blogs Political blogs

3. Blog basics Great bloggers speak with informed, personal authority through an honest, lively voice. Their posts often engage readers in a productive conversation through comments posted to the blog. To write a great blog, write about what you know – your passion, well researched and reported. Employ the skills of a news columnist, crafting a personal, first-person voice that readers will find engaging, comfortable and honest. When you don't know something, do not be afraid to admit it. Great bloggers see their posts as the first comment in a conversation, rather than the final word on that particular topic.

4. Blog basics Link out. That is, link to other blog posts. Not just blogs, but individual posts. This makes you visible to other bloggers and to other blog readers. Comment on other people’s blogs. Particularly blogs with subject matter similar to yours. In the comment form, always type your name and your blog’s URL in the boxes provided — this allows anyone who reads your comment to click your name and go to your blog, bringing more readers to you.

5. How to blog Read blogs to know what works, what doesn’t (find A-list bloggers at technorati.com SHORT! Each post should be no more than 300 words or so. Blog at least once a day

6. Is blogging journalism? What do you think? Things to think about: Blogs should provide a critical perspective on issues in the news. In some ways, the blog is similar to op-ed writing. The blog has emerged as a powerful platform for journalists to provide context, analysis and interpretation, often including behind-the-scenes information that does not fit into the structure of a traditional news story. Blogs, just like magazines, radio or television, can contain journalism, but they may not. The content, rather than the platform, defines whether or not it is a work of journalism. Blogging can be seen as a new form of real-time reporting that does not have the filtering or editing associated with established journalistic practices

7. Let’s look at some blogs My Left Nutmeg Hartford Cityline The Huffington Post (online news site and blog) Perez Hilton Gothamist The Daily Kos Talking Points Memo The City Room The Lede