Blog. It is sort of a funny-sounding word, isn’t it? I casually mentioned to a family member that I was really enjoying being a “blogger”, and she looked at me like I was nuts. She had never heard of a blog, so certainly didn’t know what a blogger was. Truth be told, this same person probably wasn’t familiar with the terms “texting” or “surfing the net” either… Technology sure has a way of changing our vocabulary! Actually, my fairly new computer doesn’t seem to know what a blog is either, because it keeps turning that word red with my spell-check program.

So, just what is a blog? The term blog is short for web log, which Wikipedia defines as, “A blog (or weblog) is a website that is used in the manner of an online journal. Like other media, blogs often focus on a particular subject, such as food, politics, or local news. Some blogs function as online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. Since its appearance in 1995, blogging has emerged as a popular means of communication, affecting public opinion and mass media around the world.”

Here is a little bit more interesting history on my new favorite past time (from Wikipedia)... “The term "weblog" was coined by Jorn Barger on 17 December 1997. The short form, "blog," was coined by Peter Merholz. He broke the word weblog into the phrase "we blog" in the sidebar of his weblog in April or May of 1999. "Blog" was accepted as a noun (weblog shortened) and as a verb ("to blog," meaning "to edit one's weblog or to post to one's weblog"). Justin Hall, who began eleven years of personal "blogging" in 1994 while a student at Swarthmore College, is generally recognized as one of the earliest bloggers. After a slow start, blogging rapidly gained in popularity: the site Xanga, launched in 1996, had only 100 diaries by 1997, and over 50,000,000 as of December 2005. Blog usage spread during 1999 and the years following, being further popularized by the near-simultaneous arrival of the first hosted blog tools.”

When I was trying to explain to my family member what a blog was, I said something along the lines that it was a diary online, that other people read. She said in her day, you didn’t want people to read your diary. I guess it is a little backwards…I spent years hiding my diary from the prying eyes of my little brother and sister, and now I spend hours each day putting my thoughts on my blog for the whole world to access.

I guess one of the big differences is that unlike my diary in fifth grade which was full of secret crushes, devious plans and other high drama, my blog focuses on transracial and transcultural adoption. That is the topic, or the focus. So on this blog, my online diary, I am sharing my experiences as a mom of a large transracial family, my thoughts on issues, news and events related to transracial adoption and providing resources for other families considering adopting transracially or transculturally. It is definitely a step-up from a diary.

So there it is…a little bit of background information on blogs. Personally, I love blogs. I love to read them and I love to write mine.

Want to check out some other great blogs? Here are some I love to visit.
The Adoptionblogs.com home page, which links to my blog and lots of other great blogs relating to adoption (check out the right hand side of the page for the full list of adoption.com blogs)
Blogging Baby, which has links to lots of different great blogs relevant to parenting.
Bringing Desta Home , an honest, heartwarming and informative blog detailing a family's experiences as they adopt an HIV+ girl from Ethiopia.
The Rainbowkids adoption forum page has a lot of fun personal blogs that families use to chronicle their adoptions.
Here is one I just found today, called A Mixed Blog, A Project of the Multiracial Activist. I look forward to reading more on this one.
Let me know if you have a favorite blog I should check out. Happy reading!