Dear Readers,
You may have signed up for this newsletter because you are fascinated by study abroad, because you wish to follow the adventures of our three BlogAbroad.com bloggers as they explore Rome, Chile & Senegal, because you want to be a well-informed and concerned global citizen, or a variety of other reasons.
We don't know why you signed up, but we know you'll be glad you did. The BlogAbroad.com Express is scheduled to arrive in your inbox bi-weekly. Passengers on this train will include a brief introductory letter (like this one!), excerpts from the blogs of our BlogAbroad.com bloggers, and one to two short, informative articles relating to either blogging and technology or studying abroad.
We welcome any feedback on what you think would make this newsletter more interesting or helpful to you. Also, if you are interested in contributing articles about studying abroad or blogging, please let us know.
Phil, Jackie, and Emma are currently on the ride of a lifetime, and we will be following their thrilling adventures throughout the Spring semester. Thank you for joining us on this journey; we hope you find it informative, entertaining, and inspiring.
So hop aboard the BlogAbroad.com Express!
~The BlogAbroad.com Team (John, Drew, Matt & Kim)
A Short Introduction to Blogging:
There are many definitions of the term blog. For example, blog could be defined as a frequent, chronological publication of personal thoughts and Web links. Merriam-Webster defines a blog as follows:
Blog - noun [short for Weblog] : a Web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks provided by the writer
In 2004, blog was #1 on Merriam-Webster's list of most searched words online. This shows the increasing popularity of blogs that was seen so notably in the recent presidential election. Blogs are increasingly being mentioned in the news, used by companies to promote products and services as well as their traditional use as a more personal communication medium. Blogs enable people to keep in touch, even when they are oceans away from each other.
Often a blog can be a personal account of events or situations that has elements of a diary, or a place to post one's opinions, thoughts, or feelings. However, blogs vary as widely as people do. People maintained blogs long before there was an actual term for it. However, it was the introduction of automated publishing systems that simplified the process and increased the popularity of blogs. For BlogAbroad.com, we use www.Mindsay.com as our publishing system. Anyone can create an account there and write their own blog as well as read and respond to other bloggers.
This is just the first of many action packed newsletters detailing the adventures of Phil, Jackie, and Emma. We will continue to follow them as they explore the world. We will also continue providing useful information about studying abroad and blogging, as we feature different programs, provide answers to your questions, and more. Tell us what you would like to see in this newsletter.
