You might’ve noticed on the front page that blogs have gone live. That means YourHub.com can be your single stop for news in the community and to talk back to your neighbors and the world at large.

"Sure. That’s great. But what the heck’s a blog?"

The word’s been inescapable in news media, both with traditional media outlets scrambling for relevance, and with some big blogs for politicos getting attention and breaking stories.

But for all the buzz, there are plenty of intelligent people that either don’t know what a blog is or can’t put it into words they can make sense of.

So here’s the quick tutorial: A blog (short for "weblog") is a personally-run spot on the net where one can record their thoughts, share links, etc. Some of the most prominent blogs just serve as a sort of online diary about day-to-day events, while others might follow a particular interest or hobby and still others might keep readers up-to-date on a particular interest

On YourHub.com, you have the same freedom. If you want to talk about something funny your kids did? Go right to it. Want to keep a running list of events your community organization is having? Post them up and share your blog’s address with members. Want to opine about news and events? Here’s your shot.

"Okay, but I’ve always been able to do that on YourHub!"

Touché. Just what does separate your blog from the news on YourHub? Perhaps you want to share something personal, but don’t think it’s really necessary to share it with the entire community that would otherwise see it if you made a news story. Maybe you feel like taking on a more conversational tone. We’ve never asked you to "sound like a journalist" when you write news, but if you’ve been hit by inspiration and you’re ready to let loose with a mind-blowing Faulknerian stream-of-consciousness screed, it might make more sense in a blog’s personal tone. Why sterilize your genius with journalistic orthodoxy?

And to top it all off, if you blog it, you can collect it with all your other stuff under one simple address. It beats trying to dig through an entire city’s worth of news to find that great story you wrote last week.

Oh, and one last note? Don’t worry if what you want to write about isn’t one of the topics listed. Just pick the closest thing. At YourHub.com, we’re not in the business of telling people what not to write.

To get started, click here.