We explain what a blog is, how it is made and what parts it is made up of. Also, what is it for and what types of logs exist.
What is a blog?
A logbook (and sometimes just a logbook) is a record of what happened daily in a person's life, especially if that person is in a special situation. It is a kind of diary, often kept by ship captains, aviation pilots and explorers of all kinds, in which the most important or transcendental events of what has been lived are recorded.
The first logbooks came from the navy, and were a book or notebook in which the captain of a ship recorded the most important events of the day. Being long trips and often in unknown territory, these notebooks served to leave testimony of what could happen to the boat.
Since there was no covered bridge on these ships, it was common for these notebooks to be kept inside the log (hence their name): a wood and metal instrument fixed near the ship's rudder, on the deck, and inside which was a magnetic compass held by gimbal suspension.
Currently, this instrument is no longer used, so the name "log" came to refer exclusively to the notebooks or records that used to contain. In fact, in fictions and stories it is often spoken of the "captain's log" to refer to the logbook in which the chief of the vessel writes down everything that happens.With the passage of time, in addition, the term was extended to other types of personal diary or record, both in physical format and in digital format. Internet, and gave rise to new words such as blog (“weblog”) or Blog.
There are, therefore, numerous types of blog:
- Professional blog. Carried by a worker, director or employee of some kind to record the work done and the problems encountered.
- Travel log. Carried by tourists, travelers or explorers who wish to record the experiences that occurred during their transfer.
- Personal log. Carried by anyone who wants to record the daily events of her life personally and sentimentally.
- Log of reading. Taken by readers and researchers to write down the books and/or documents they have read and studied every day, as well as the findings they have made in each one.
What is a blog for?
The purpose of a log is to serve as a record of life, that is, to contain the account of the most important events in the life of an individual, especially if they find themselves in unusual situations. This register generally contains the objective events of reality, but it is also possible that it gives space to the subjectivities and the inner world. The latter, however, is much more frequent in intimate diaries or personal memoirs.
With the passage of time, the logs can become documents of historical value, since through the author's point of view, the series of events that he witnessed can be reconstructed and even valuable information on the historical period can be obtained.
Parts of a blog
There is no single logbook model, since these records depend, to a great extent, on the context in which they are carried out: the log of an astronaut on a mission to the Moon is not the same, the personal log of a tourist in another country, or the log of an operator on an oil platform in the Caribbean Sea. Each of these blogs is adapted in content and form to the specific needs of the case.
However, broadly speaking, a blog contains:
Tickets. Sections dated with day, month and year, which make up the main separations of the log content. In each entry, the author writes the things that happened that day, and when the day passes, he necessarily opens a new entry with a new date. Each entry, in turn, contains the following:
- Header. The annotation of the date (hour, day, month, year, depending on the desired format) and the place where the described event occurred.
- Details. A second annotation with additional elements that are needed to be able to understand what follows in the entry, such as attached details, proper names, project names, etc.
- Contents. The description of the events that occurred on the day, that is, what you want to report in a specific entry.
- Signature. The name and position or rank of the person who keeps the log.
How is a blog made?
To make a log of any kind, it is essential to have a physical or digital support in which we can write our notes: a notebook, a notebook, a Web page or a page of social networks. There are even computer programs ideal for preparing and keeping our blog.
After this initial step, we must think about the format of the entries that we are interested in creating, that is, we must decide what data will go in the header, what details we will include later and what kind of content we will target (personal, work, among others), and for last if we will sign our blog or if it will be anonymous. It is important that the different parts of the ticket can be distinguished from each other.
Once these details are resolved, we can start keeping track of our days, adding entries that respect the already established format. Once the log is finished, we can write a text introductory to warn the eventual reader what the blog is about to read.