So What Is a Blog, Anyway?

If you're a regular reader of Weston Patch, you may have noticed we've been talking a lot about blogs lately—a lot. 

But that may have led you to wonder: What, exactly, is a blog?

We're here to answer that for you. 

"Blog" is really a short form of "weblog," a term that was first coined in 1997, but that nobody really uses any more. The first weblogs, or blogs, were generally set up by people who wanted to share interesting links, photos or videos they had come across on the Internet. They later evolved to longer-form posts that might discuss the author's personal life or personal opinions about various issues.

Blogging is a pretty free-form type of creating. Blog writers create what's called a post, and those posts are listed in reverse chronological order on the website.

A blog can be about literally anything—from political commentary to simply sharing funny links, photos and videos to something that is more like an online journal or diary. The NYTimes has a whole subset of blogs on its website, ranging in topics from breaking news to motherhood to health and wellness. It's a way to get up content easily and quickly, to start up a conversation about something the author wants to learn more about, or has a strong opinion about. 

So why do people read blogs? People tend to read blogs because well-written blogs are interesting to read, even if they are just about what the author had for breakfast that day. And many blogs have comments (just like Patch does), creating a sense of community among the readers. 

What does this mean for me? It means that you now have a platform to let all of Weston know what you think about something. Consider it a form of public speaking—but without stepping on a literal soapbox on the Town Green. You can talk about whatever you want: your kids, your dog, what you think about Town Meeting, what plants you're putting into the ground this weekend, what amazing sight you saw at the high school the other day, your awesome golf scores the other day... anything! (Barring anything untrue or inflammatory, of course). 

How do I blog? I'm not even that good on the computer! Blogging on our platform couldn't be easier. If you can send an email, you can blog on Patch. And it's a great way to get your voice heard about whatever topic is near and dear to your heart. Think of it as a letter to the editor. 

The decisions about the topic and frequency are completely up to you. Blog once, blog every day, blog every other week—do whatever works on your schedule. 

If you already have a blog, we can add that to our "Local Voices" section. Send your RSS feed to meghan.kelly@patch.com and your posts will be excerpted on the front page of Weston Patch every time you update. It's a great way to get more readers without much effort on your part. (Not sure what an RSS feed is? That's not a problem—we'll help you with that).

Still not sure about this blogging thing? Check out a few examples of local bloggers on and . Feel free to leave a comment on this story with your questions or concerns and editor Meghan B. Kelly will answer them. Or you can put your questions into an email and send it to meghan.kelly@patch.com.