I came to this book with the preconceived notion of
how pointless it is to write a book about blogging. I mean, blogging is quite easy; anyone with Internet access and
basic internet skills can do it. However,
this excellent book surprised me many times over and showed me just how much
there is to learn about blogs, including history, practical advice, and
promotion.

Blood begins the book by discussing her own
introduction into weblogs, what exactly a weblog is, and the rapid development
of the weblog since it debuted in the mid- to late-1990s. She illustrates the
sense of community that the original/early webloggers shared because of their
low numbers and common interests. 
Through detailed examples and anecdotes, Blood illustrates the personal
and cultural importance of weblogs, how they disseminate information, provide
points of view not often heard from in mainstream media, create communities of
sorts, and offer glimpses into people’s lives. 

By offering so many stories of her own experience in
the world of weblogs, both positive and negative, Blood is able to convince
people that they can and should create a weblog, that what they have to say and
share, whatever it may be, will find an audience and develop their skills as a
writer/critical thinker if they choose the right tools for weblog management,
(various HTML programs/services are profiled in the book), provide some way for
their audience to contact you/interact with them directly, have a user-friendly
design, be themselves, respect other webloggers, and update regularly. Tips on
online safety, protecting children online, and maintaining privacy as a
weblogger are also covered.

She ends the book with an afterword that discusses
the massive and quick proliferation of webloggers in the past few years, and
what this growth has done for/to the internet and its users. While recognizing
that today’s world of weblogs is much different from the original small
community that started them in the mid- to late-1990s, she offers encouragement
for all of us to start setting our lives in context and sharing what we
know/see/feel with the world.

There are many web resources listed both at the end
of each chapter and in the various appendices. 
The appendices also offer instructions on creating a practice weblog
through various services, adding weblinks to your weblog, and monitoring your
site’s statistics. This is an extremely well-written, informative, fun, and
important book. How wrong my
preconceived notions were!

The
author’s weblog can be found at: http://www.rebeccablood.net

The
book’s homepage is: http://www.rebeccablood.net/handbook/index.html

© 2003 Miranda Hale