A good working definition of a blog is simply a journal or newsletter that is frequently updated and intended for the timely reading.
It often provides opportunities for unfiltered and immediate feedback, sports an informal or even partisan attitude, and is written in a more personal style than traditional press outlets.
Blogs come in all shapes and subjects, from the maunderings of troubled teen souls to displays of classical photography to breaking news and commentary.
They can be online journals, locked with a password shared by a few trusted friends, or they can be page after page of source code, sharing useful and free computer programs with the world.
A blog may be an online journal tangential to a companys main business, where users of a companys products give feedback and ask for help. Blogs can be hosted by single individuals, shared by teams, or produced by entire companies.
They may be hosted on a dedicated blog server using fancy templates or lovingly hand-crafted in HTML on a page that resembles a bulletin board.
But a blog is not simply a syndicated column or a newspaper that is online. Many news outlets feature...