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MSN moves into Blogging

MSN moves into blogging; Ebookers up on takeover talks :: AO

Not only did the word "blog" enter Merriam-Webster's dictionary this year, but Microsoft is getting on the personalized e-journal bandwagon.

Microsoft's MSN is expected to release a beta version Thursday of a blogging service it calls MSN Spaces.

A blog refers to Web log, or a journal on the Internet. Or, as Merriam-Webster defines it, a blog is a Web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments and often hyperlinks provided by the writer. Check out Webster's definition.

Indeed, it's the ability to be heard and acknowledged that MSN wanted to give its customers.

"We've had Microsoft Messenger and Hotmail for one-to-one conversations, but we didn't have a tool for one-to-many communication," said Brooke Richardson, lead product manager at MSN. "We know from people who share pictures and communicate that this is an important tool to round out our offering."

MSN Spaces will be free to users unlike some blog-hosting sites, like TypePad, which charge a monthly fee. Like other blog sites, including Blogger -- which Google purchased back in 1999 -- MSN will let users upload pictures and share photo albums and personal music files.

But MSN hopes its ready audience base of 145 million instant messaging users 187 million Hotmail users will keep people interested in their MSN Spaces blogs.

For instance, people can attach contact cards of themselves next to their names in the MSN messaging box on the desktop. Those contact cards also display a tiny version of a user's personal Web site. If a site's updated with text or new photos, then an icon appears next to the person's MSN messaging name so others will know that a site has been updated.

A problem with many blogs is that they typically lose their attraction to readers after a while, since it's hard to tell when or how often the blogs are updated.

By incorporating MSN Spaces into the messaging tool, MSN hopes to keep people interested in blogging. MSN Spaces is also linked to Hotmail, so that when a blog is updated, a message can be sent via e-mail.

"One thing we see about blogging is that people tend to abandon them," said Richardson. "There isn't necessarily a ton of engagement. Their friends don't know how often they update it. So one thing we wanted to give is feedback to the owner of space and viewers of the space to drive engagement."

Additionally, a person can just e-mail a text insert or photos from their handheld devices. They will be automatically updated on their MSN blog.