Abbreviated from 'web log', a blog is an online journal of sorts. Through their blogs, writers share beliefs, opinions, and ideas with the rest of high-speed humanity. A blog can also be used as a display of your writing ability or your enthusiasm and command over something in a certain area. More and more people are creating blogs everyday and it's not just people; it is companies and service providers too.

Not only does keeping a daily blog give you more practice and command over the language and make you a better, more confident writer, but it does so in an interactive environment that allows you to grow and learn from other people as well. That's why blog communities are so popular - people share with, and relate to, each other in a safe, comfortable, interactive environment where they feel able to express themselves fully.

Some people blog anonymously for various reasons (see postsecret.blogspot.com), whether it's because they're not confident enough to reveal themselves or because they might get in trouble with friends, family or the authorities, but many choose to blog as themselves.

Big businesses and companies for instance, who choose to blog do so in order to provide an interactive forum where their existing - and potential - customer base can communicate with the company in a less formal and much more comfortable environment. It allows a kind of openness between the two parties that was hitherto uncommon and creates a much deeper brand loyalty.

Service providers use blogs as a way to constantly revise and update their 'dynamic CVs'. Because that's what a blog is in a big way - an online calling card. You can link it to your main service website or freelancing profile and you get a forum for not only showcasing your talents as a writer, photographer, artist, film-maker etc but also as a way to express other sides of you that a static, paper-based CV simply cannot do.

Blogs are used to make money from advertising as well. Owners of very popular blogs get paid-per-click revenue from advertisers that use their site as a billboard and, if done right, can be extremely lucrative! The brilliant part about all of this is that, apart from the cost of your Internet connection and the time you put into your blog content, blogs are free to create and maintain. They are definitely a great marketing tool, both in a personal sense and in a business sense.