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One of the ways we can use to demonstrate how ‘superior’ our society is to those gone before is to point out how much of our time is no longer devoted to daily existence. The creation of leisure time has spawned a vast industry, or rather several vast industries, devoted to finding ways to fill that time for us, to devising attractions to get us to spend our money on things to fill in that time, and to provide us with ‘entertainment.’

Television has been a tool that has almost singlehandedly, changed who we are. In its best form, it is a medium of information delivery, showing us sights and sounds from across the world, expanding horizons beyond anything previously achieved. At its worst it is a mindless, drivel-delivering system for dulling the mind, satiating the senses and inundating us with violence and political machinations.

Whether what it delivers these days can be called entertainment, I am not so sure. The TV is too much of a good thing – it delivers most of the inputs so that our brains go into sleep mode, simply accepting all that comes in with no critical faculties in play.

The computer tool has a different level of involvement. While it can provide a similar style of input to that of the TV, it isn’t used that way as much as was once thought. Instead there are games to play, there are blogs to read, forums to participate in. Using a computer as an entertainment tool mostly involves some participation from the user, which, when you compare it to the couch-potato world of the TV addict, can only be good.

So you want to be a blogger and it’s time to choose a blog host. But who? You could go with what all your friends are going with, but what if you’re the first one to start a blog? Or what if you’re not sure you want what they have?

You’ll want to do your own research, but in this section of this series, I am going to explore the basics of the big three – Blogger, Wordpress, and LiveJournal – to help you make your decision.

LiveJournal is the most recent experiment of mine. I moved from Wordpress to LiveJournal purely out of a networking nature. That’s not to say there aren’t other aspects to the host.

Like Blogger and Wordpress, LiveJournal is easy to sign up for and get going. While there was some fuss a while back about LiveJournal pulling the option to have free blogs, users don’t have to worry about that now.

LiveJournal is the choice that you will want to go with if making friends and joining communities sounds exactly like what you want to do. Moving above and beyond the typical blog host, LiveJournal grants you the ability to compile a friend list (and you will get a ‘friends page’ which is like a feed reader for your LJ friends’ blog entries), create and join communities, and peruse other people’s friend lists and communities.

If you want choice for templates, then you might be shoved into the realm of overwhelmed by how much choice you’ll have with LJ. Paid accounts have more options, but the template options for the free accounts certainly aren’t anything to snub. The thing that may not work so well for some bloggers (and works in Blogger.com’s favour) is that you don’t have the ability to easy copy and past templates not on offer. Paying gives you more options, but again, I’m sticking with what’s available at the free level.

The big negative for LJ, I believe, is that all of these options, choices, and things you can do with your blog can get a bit confusing. If a simple blog to place your occasional thoughts is what you want, LJ might not be the best choice for you right now. Why go for all the bells and whistles if you don’t need them.

However, if you are open to easy click friend making, communities, and much more, then definitely check it out.

So you want to be a blogger and it’s time to choose a blog host. But who? You could go with what all your friends are going with, but what if you’re the first one to start a blog? Or what if you’re not sure you want what they have?

You’ll want to do your own research, but in this section of this series, I am going to explore the basics of the big three – Blogger, Wordpress, and LiveJournal – to help you make your decision.

I first started blogging with Wordpress when I started working for 451press. It was a bit intimidating to switch over to a new service, but I found the transition easy and positive.

One thing that is great about Wordpress is the easy to manage categories. If you’re typing away and see your post doesn’t fit in any of your current categories, then it’s as easy as typing in a new category and adding it to the list - all of which can be done without having to save the post or refresh the page. Categories are a wonderful thing for both you and your readers. If you’re looking for an older post or your readers want to read a specific category only, it’s as easy as clicking on that category name. Plus it’s easy to just go to a page and delete, rename, and otherwise manage your categories.

What sets Wordpress apart from some blogging hosts is that you can have pages, which is one of the things that put me off from using Blogger. Not only do you have your main blog, but you can have an about you page, a page for your business or online shopping, another page for your writing… The list goes on forever. The ability to create and manage pages makes your blog more like a website and less like just another blog.

However, there are its catches. There are a lot of options and things you can do with your blog, but it does take a while to get used to the navigation and exactly how things work. What I found to be the most frustrating is putting in separate categories for the blogroll. While mine looks like it should, it took me a long time to figure out how to make it that way, and I’m still not sure if I did it the way I’m supposed to.

I mentioned the templates as a positive feature above, but you should know that not all templates are created equal. Not all have color options, and not all have customizable header options. This isn’t the most horrible thing in the world by any means, but you might end up finding a template you love but not being able to customize your header.

What about going directly into the template code and doing it there? That brings on my final criticism of Wordpress.

One of my largest annoyances when it comes to Wordpress is that you have to pay to get access to your template. There is no easy tab to click on to edit the code. Yes, there is a space for you to move around your sidebar widgets, but that’s all the designing input you get when it comes to your template unless you pay the fee.

So you want to be a blogger and it’s time to choose a blog host. But who? You could go with what all your friends are going with, but what if you’re the first one to start a blog? Or what if you’re not sure you want what they have?

You’ll want to do your own research, but in this section of this series, I am going to explore the basics of the big three – Blogger, Wordpress, and LiveJournal – to help you make your decision.

Blogger is the host I used when I started blogging for the very first time. I didn’t know much about blogs or blogging then, but Blogger looked friendly and worked for someone learning the ropes. It’s a great choice for those just starting out with blogging as well as with those trying to learn HTML.

When you sign up with Blogger, it’s easy to find your way around with easy-to-understand-and-read terms and fonts. For the new blogger, it’s as easy as signing up with a valid email address, picking your blog title, template, and URL, and then going off to post! The blogger unfamiliar with HTML can step in and start posting without having to worry about any bits of code. However, the basic codesmith can easily switch over to the “Edit HTML” tab and give it a go.

After Blogger’s switch to “the New Blogger,” it’s even easier to make your blog your own - no HTML experience needed. All you need do is drag and drop elements as you want them to look, and you can have a preview. For the HTML dabbler, this can be a good thing as well because you can drag and drop the main elements as well as add your personal touch in the raw template.

If you’re looking to make a little cash with your blog, you’re likely thinking to go the popular way of Google adsense. Blogger has that covered in an easy add-on in the drag and drop template manipulation section. All you have to do is sign up for it.

However, Blogger has its down points as well.

To sign up for the new Blogger, you have to have a Google account or you will be signed up for one. This isn’t a strong negative, but if you’re like me, you groan at the thought of signing up for yet another thing you won’t use. I have yet to explore to see exactly what I can do with my new account with Google.

Blogger’s main function is for its users to be able to blog. Your posts will go up in diary style format and will be archived all the same. If you want a Bio page, Blogger does give you a profile page. However, it is meager and you want something more, plan on having a blog all about you with its own unique URL just sitting there.

Finally, Blogger is meant mainly for blogging, as I said above. Thus you have a blog, but that’s about all. If you have seen other author sites and like the idea of having a page for your prose, a page for your poetry, a page for your blogging, etc, be prepared to have quite a few blogs. I know quite a few people who manage this and manage it well, but I prefer to have everything I want and need on one site, one URL.

Blogger is my definite recommendation for people starting out and those who want to start experimenting with template HTML. However, if you’ve been using it for a good amount of time now, I recommend branching out and trying a few other spaces so you can find your true fit for your needs.

Okay, so let’s try this again. So you want to be a blogger? In this series I am going to introduce you, step by step, to the world of blogging. I’m hoping to keep things simple and easy to understand, but if there is ever anything you don’t understand, feel free to ask any questions at any time.

When you’re getting started in the world of blogging, the first natural step is to choose a blog host. A blog host is the site that is going to provide you with your free blog. You might want to pay for a site later so you can get everything you want, but that’s not really something you want to jump into right away.

There are plenty of blog hosts around the internet, but the three main ones (at least in the circles I travel in) that are in use are Blogger, Wordpress, and LiveJournal.

Now, just because ‘all your friends’ are using one site doesn’t mean you have to, but it can help having people near who can help you. However, it’s likely that you’re going to stick with what you start with (just because it can be annoying and sometimes a lot of work to switch from platform to platform) so it’s worth it to do your research.

What you want to think about is what you want from your blog. Would you like somewhere to anonymously put your thoughts or would you rather have a place to easily connect to your friends? A place to put your photos or a place where you can build a name for yourself and maybe eventually a business?

In the next post I’ll examine the blogging hosts and the positives and negatives that come with them.

You’ve heard about it from your friends and family. Maybe your children. “Blogs.” “Blogging.” “Bloggers.” Heck, you’ve heard that people are actually out there making money from just talking about themselves and their lives. There are even a few who live off what they make from blogging.

Or maybe you have been faithfully reading blogs for quite a while now but have never taken the leap into writing your own.

But then again, it all sounds a bit complicated with all the different ‘platforms’ and things you can do with them. It can be a bit overwhelming to get a start on it all.

So how do you start? Where do you start?

First off, don’t worry about whether or not you’re too ‘late’ to start blogging. People all over the world are starting new blogs every day and many people have been blogging for years, so you’ll be entering into a massive huge arena with people both new and experienced with the world of blogging.

Second, don’t let other people overwhelm you with all the jargon and lingo surrounding blogging. Starting next week, I’ll be taking you through things step by step, and if you have any questions along the way – no matter how you feel about how they may sound – you can always ask in the comments or using the ‘comment me’ button under the site description on the right.

The most important thing to remember about blogging is that blogging is what you make of it. You reap what you sow, so to say and blogging can be a truly great experience if you’re willing to put the time into it.

We’ll get started next week with what blog platforms are and how you choose the one that’s best for you.

Have a great weekend!