Finally we are the final of the three blogging platforms I will be trying out. I should mention here that has been my intention to cover the most obvious free blogging platform for those who would like something beyond having to use Facebook as a sole means to connect with friends. There are a number of other platforms out there for such things as micro-blogging (here is a list of micro-blogging platforms…), and there are a number of ‘regular’ blogging platforms out there too (here) but I picked the three free platforms which are the most well known, or are the easiest to start into blogging. WordPress.com and Blogger are the top two and as such are the obvious choices, but Windows Live Spaces (a relative newcomer) has value in that there are a lot of Windows PC users who use MSN network as a homepage, and there are quite a few people who already have a hotmail.com or MSN e-mail account.
With a Microsoft e-mail address (MSN.com, Hotmail.com, or Live.com…) you already have access to a lot of free value added tools and services online. Windows Spaces is the place where you can create what would essentially be a blog. I should mention that I have never run across a Live Spaces blog in my typical searches online, but if you want to create a personal online journal, or a place where you can share thoughts and pictures with friends…Windows Live Spaces looks like it would fill the bill quite well.
One of the other big reasons that this might be the answer for you is that with other services, Windows Live offers Windows Sky Drive, which is free online storage for you photos music or anything else you can imagine (25 gigabytes of free space!). If you want to know more about this, here is a review.
So…if you are sold on looking into this platform for blogging, here is a video to show you how to start:
At this point I should show you the three ‘free’ blogs I have created in the last week…
First, I have a blog at WordPress.com:
http://riehlerblog.wordpress.com/
Second, I have created a Blogger site:
And finally, I have a blog up at Windows Live Spaces:
http://riehlerblogtest3.spaces.live.com/
From the standpoint of beginning to blog, I intend to create a post identical articles to these three blogs to show (firstly) that once a blog is set up, posting to it is quite simple, and (secondly) to allow you to see any potential differences in how they present the same information. This, along with the information I have already provided in the last week (or two…) should be enough to allow you to create your own blog.
