What's a good blog thing to join?

[John Junk]

Hey all,
So I was going down the path of the Friendster/Myspace addict.  Well, it wasn't quite that bad, but it was getting there slowly. So I decided to quit!  But I still want to "network" using the "internet", but I'd like to try on this "blogging" thing because it seems more adult-y than the myspace crap.  Any suggestions? I'm an artist and in a band and sometimes write things, so I guess some kind of creative-minded blogosphere would be good, but I don't know anything about this stuff.  Your input is highly appreciated.
Cheers!
John.

[KickTheBobo]

I like LiveJournal, but I haven't really ever used anything else. The reasons I like it are because it employs filters if you want, like if you just want your school friends to be able to read the stuff, you can set a "school" filter, for example. I have everything set for "public" (hey, I got no secrets), but if you post sensitive material, you might wanna use filters.

I also like it because you can go to one site, and read all your LJ buddies entries in one place, instead of jumping around from blog to blog.

Alot of people will say that LJ is for 14 yo emo kids, and granted there are alot of them on there. I just see it as a way to keep up with the goings-on in my far-away friends lives.

If you are thinking of wanting something more professional, then you might want to look into a stand-alone blog that uses wordpress.

[Tim K in DC]

I use blogspot. It's free and there are controls you can use to regulate comments and catch spambots and that kind of junk.

I haven't used it frequently enough to encounter some of its quirks. A friend of mine who is a far more prolific blogger eventually got frustrated with blogspot and lucked into a friend who was able to provide him with a private host for his rantings.

My brother uses typepad, which has a monthly fee that apparently isn't too outrageous, and he doesn't have any complaints.

[Emerson]

I'm a fan of:
http://wordpress.com/

It's free, it's better-looking than Blogspot, and it makes it easy to upload files. If you want anyone to skim your 3,000-word manifesto on 2012, it helps if you give them a free Ghostface song for their trouble.

~EmD

[Grimlock]

Wordpress is awesome. I run two blogs on it.

What's nice is I can host my own blog on my own server, which is great.

I hate blog*er because it's owned by G**gle, and goes through their adsense bullshit.

Wordpress also has a free hosted version, but it has a limited number of themes you can use. The Wordpress community is awesome though, there are tons of free themes and programs that people write for it, and best of all, you aren't indebted to some monolithic Murdoch cabal.

There is a bit of a learning curve if you go for the self-hosted option (mySQL database crap) but I'm a very limited programmer and figured it out through the helpful Wordpress archives and forums.

If you're on a Mac, there's also a nice program called Rapidweaver, which let's you make quick websites with blogging capabiltites.

For my blogs (on mac) I host on my server, using the Wordpress software, and post using a software called Ecto (so you can write you're stuff offline, make Technorati tags and categories easily, etc.) Ecto was like $20 I think.

Good luck!

[John Junk]

Thanks you guys!  This is all really helpful.  Hopefully in the next few weeks I'll get something new going.  It's kinda hard leaving the myspommunity behind, but they're all a bunch of 19 year old sluts new to my area who just want me to IM them.  Or at least that's who's been contacting me lately.  I'm looking forward to new horizons.

[Josh]

I use Movable Type and have found it up to the task. I don't have any specific pogramming/web training, and thus the install was and some maintenance has been a million headaches. On the other hand, I've learned a bunch of lots about mysql, php, xyz. The widgets and add-ons by the community are pretty outta site. If I could start over, I might use TypePad (Movable Type with easier install but paid) or Textpattern (open source).

[Josh]

Have you decided on anything TJH?

[John Junk]

No, I got too busy and haven't had time to blog it out, but I'm thinking when the time comes I will probably just do a profesh web site with no blogging capabilities, and perhaps a link to a blog that will most likely be wordpress or some such.  In the mean time, I re-entered the ghastly world of Myspace, but this time as a band and not a person, and I only check it when it sends me an e-mail saying I got a message or something.  cuts down on the trolling and whatnot.