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You've seen the word, you've seen the web sites and you may even have one.  But have you ever wondered:  What's the big deal about blogs? This is Blogs in Plain English. To make sense of blogs, you have to think about the news and who makes it. We'll look at news in the 20th vs. the 21st century to make our point. In the 20th century, the news was produced professionally.  When news happened, reporters wrote the stories and a tiny group of people decided what appeared in a newspaper or broadcast. Professional news was mainstream: general and limited. The 21st century marked the point where news became both professional and personal.   A new kind of web site called a weblog or blog came onto the scene that let anyone be a reporter and publisher - often for free. As blogs became popular, they created millions of news sources and gave everyone an audience for their own version of news. Of course, we're using the word "news" loosely.  But really - isn't everything news to someone?  With a blog...A business owner can share news about his business A mother can share news about her family Or a sport star can share news with fans These people are all "bloggers". How did this happen? Well, blogs made sharing news on the web easy.  Anyone with an idea can start a new blog with the click of a button and share news minutes later. Here's how blogs work. Blogs are websites that are organized by blog posts - these are individual news stories, like articles in the paper. Bloggers simply fill out a form like this one to post a new story. With the click of a button, the blog post appears at the top of the web page, just above yesterday's news.  Over time, the blog becomes a collection of these posts, all archived for easy reference. Also, Each blog post can become a discussion through comments left by readers. Blogs make the news a two way street. But really, the fuss is not about how blogs work - it's about what people like you do with