Photo illustration by Michael Uribes
Pablo Torres, a junior at Fresno State, found his creative outlet when he stumbled upon a blog that inspired him to post his creative ideas online.
“It was a way for me to express my opinions and write about personal and school projects,” Torres said.
A blog is defined as a frequent and chronological publication of personal thoughts, pictures and website links.
“Surprisingly, I know a lot of people who don’t even know what a blog is,” Torres explained. “Compared to when I started two years ago, blogging is a lot easier to do.”
Blogging among students and the general public is becoming more popular as blogging platforms such as “Blogspot,” “Wordpress” and “Tumblr” let people blog for free. These sites still offer users the option of customizing their blog site to their preferences.
Torres suggested that students who want to get into blogging search for a blog that caters to their interests, views or writing style.
“I didn’t even think about starting my own blog until I came across a college student from UCLA that inspired me to start blogging,” Torres said.
It took Torres two years to get enough content in his blog to attract a lot of readers. Those readers can comment on his content, along with being able to repost his posts on their own blogs.
Torres said that blogging is a great way to build a professional or school portfolio.
Along with building a portfolio, it is a way to network and find people with similar interests and views.
Whenever a certain blog catches his interest, Torres subscribes to it and receives weekly newsfeeds through his email.
He cautioned to not include too much personal information within the blog and to keep it relatively general.
“You can blog anonymously, but if you want to take credit for the content of the blog in the future, try to keep out your personal life as much as possible,” Torres said. “This should go for almost anything you post online, blog or not.”
Torres explained that a friend who also blogs makes about $100 a week just from blogging.
“It is possible to make money off of this, but it takes a lot of time and commitment, which can be difficult for full-time college students,” Torres said.
Along with the possible income that blogs can bring in, many scholarships are offered to student bloggers.
“If you’re passionate about a subject, then blog,” said John Walker, who blogs through his literary magazine, Trachodon.
Walker cautioned to avoid blogs as sources for any research paper.
“A blog can contain anything from creative writing to public librarianship, and usually contain a single perspective,” Walker said.
Kalis Kim, a recent Fresno State graduate and blogger, recommends that students start their own blogs.
“It gives students practice with writing, a fresh perspective and analysis, [and provides] a creative outlet,” Kim said. “The ability to read and analyze a non-objective piece of writing allows people to become better students. It lets them read about a subject that interests them, while also leaving the door open to gaining exposure to new topics.”