I’ve been blogging for a little over a year. I used to work for a company that helped people monetize their blogs so I learned a lot about how blogs work and what they’re supposed to accomplish. Then my buddy and I started Average-Dudes, a blog that was originally going to give reviews of products but has pretty much turned into a mish-mash of randomness.

Because I’ve done this for a while, I tend to take that knowledge for granted and sometimes I don’t realize that there are a lot of people out there that don’t even know what the word “blog” means. If you already know, then this post probably won’t help you. If you don’t, then read on and I’ll try my best to explain how to navigate this thing and what to expect out of it in the future.

Anyone familiar with Myspace has probably seen the word blog used quite often. First off, the word “blog” is short for “web log.” Blogs essentially started as an electronic form of a journal. People would set up their own online journal so that friends and family could keep up with what was happening in their lives. The term has widened considerably since the start with a lot of blogs popping up that are less personal in nature and simply provide news on a particular topic. Gizmodo is an example of a technology blog and it works in a way that’s very similar to this one.

A blog consists of a series of posts listed in reverse chronological order, meaning the most recent post shows up at the top on the main page. A post consists of a headline, a body section (what you’re reading now), images, a category, tags, and comments. Clicking on the headline of any post on the main page takes you to a separate page with that individual post on it where you can leave a comment (which we greatly encourage!).

At the bottom of each post, you can see what category it’s in, who wrote it, and tags associated with it. The tags help search engines catalog this stuff so that when you search for those particular things, the post has a better chance of showing up in the results. All that information looks like this:

You can see where it says “Posted by scott” (that’s me!)…that way you know whose post you’re reading.

That’s a very basic definition of what this thing is. It’s easiest to think of it like a newspaper. When you look at the front page of a newspaper, you see headlines that summarize their stories. Some of the stories all fit on the front page while some require you to turn the page, or in this case, click through, in order to read the full story (like this one).

So what’s the point? To connect with you! You guys can check back here for updates on what we’re up to. Leave your own thoughts in the comments section of each post and tell your friends about it. This is meant to be a community where everyone has a voice. That’s all for now. I’ll write some tips about how to get the most out of this blog and other blogs you come across some time in the future.