What is a blog?

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“Blog” is short for “web log,” which basically means “online journal.” It’s a website where you can publicly write about anything — sort of your own newspaper column. While you should probably save your most personal and special experiences for your private journal, you can use a blog to share select insights, thoughts, and experiences with the world. In this way, you could consider a blog the “large plates” of your life.

There are currently over 50 million blogs, ranging from inconsequential ramblings to thought-provoking discussions with acclaimed authors, business leaders, and topic experts.

Good Mormon blogs share the restored Gospel through the power of word and example. Here are just a few:

• Mormanity — Jeff Lindsay blogs about a variety of topics related to Mormon life, writing with humor and testimony. Many Mormons and non-Mormons alike read his blog, a labor of love that he entertains in addition to being a father and engineer.
• Indy Books — “Bookslinger,” as he calls himself, makes a point of following President Benson’s counsel of flooding the earth with the Book of Mormon. Almost everyday he gives away a Book of Mormon or other Church literature to a stranger, and it’s all chronicled on his blog.
• A Prayer of Faith — “An interactive online magazine to uplift, edify, and celebrate Latter-day Saint women.” This is no glossy commercial venture but a group blog written by real sisters, daughters, and mothers in the trenches.
• Ask Gramps — Clay Gorton blogs at www.askgramps.org. A dynamo at 83 years young, Clay spends hours per day answering Gospel questions online, sharing his experience and knowledge as a former stake president, mission president, MTC president, and temple worker.
• On Faith — Michael Otterson, a senior spokesman for the LDS Church, blogs alongside several other religious leaders and academicians on this Newsweek/Washington Post blog.

You don’t have to be an expert in any topic to blog. Blogging is a great way to share your own personal testimony and to teach people about the church by telling them what it’s like on the inside. It’s also a lot of fun.

Starting your own blog is easy! There are several free blog services such as ZionBlogs.com, WordPress.com, and Blogger. If you’re interested in learning more about blogs or getting advice on starting one, please contact us. We’ll be glad to help!