This is blogs in plain English.

 

To make sense of blogs, you have to think about news and who makes it. We'll look at news in the 20th versus the 21st century to make our point.

 

In the 20th century, the news was produced professionally. When news happened, reporters wrote the stories and a tiny group of people decided what appeared in a newspaper or broadcast. Professional news was mainstream: general and limited.

 

The 21st century marked the point where news became both professional and personal. A new kind of website called weblog, or blog for short, came onto the scene that let anyone be a reporter and publisher - often for free.

 

As blogs became popular, they created millions of news sources that gave everyone an audience for their own version of news.

 

Of course, we're using the word "news" loosely. But really, isn't everything news to someone? With a blog, A business owner can share news about his business, a mother can share news about her family, a sport star can share news with fans. These people are all "bloggers".

 

How did this happen? Well, blogs made sharing news on the web easy. Anyone with an idea can start a new blog with the click of a button and share news minutes later.