Livejournal Basics - Blogging for Everyone

Whether you are looking to make sure that your political viewpoints get out there or you are just looking for a great way to keep in touch with friends who are far away, Livejournal is definitely one of the blogging services out there that is making quite a splash. While some prefer GreatestJournal, and others stick to the journal options offered on Facebook or Myspace, you'll find that Livejournal is one of the most popular spots online to share your thoughts for good reason.

Essentially, when you sign up for Livejournal, you are creating personalized webspace where you can post the content of your choice in dated blog entries. Livejournal is highly customizable and you'll find that rather than just sticking with the plain default, you'll be adding plenty of ornamentation, web gadgets and fun backgrounds to your page. Livejournal has a terrific support community and you'll find plenty of help for no matter what you want to do.

If you find that all your friends are on Livejournal, you should get involved too. This is one of the best ways to keep up with people who you don't see every day and with the adaptability of the interface, you'll be able to do everything from showing them pictures of how cute your cats are to asking them to take a vote on what you should wear for that hot date.

Livejournal prides itself on providing a real online community, and no matter what your interests are, you'll find other people that are interested in it. Livejournal Communities are shared moderated journals where people post comments, share information and post pictures; they can be open to all members or remain exclusive to a very small group of people. You'll find communities dedicated to movies, musicians, role-playing, celebrities, pets and much more. Communities are one of the best ways to make contacts with other Livejournal users.

Remember that the more detailed you want to get with the look of your page, the higher a level of membership you will need. Livejournal supports three levels of service. The first and most basic level of service is free, and it will still allow you to make plenty of changes. You'll be able to change the background image of your Livejournal as well as have 6 icons that can represent you on other people's journals. While this service is quite plain, it still regarded as being quite serviceable; if all you're looking to do is communicate with your friends, this may be the level of service for you.

With the second level of service, there is still no cost to you, but there will be ads posted on your profile page. With this Plus account, you will receive more slots for icons, more freedom to customize your account and the ability to post polls to your website that other people can take and comment upon. One of the most charming features of Plus accounts is that you can customize your own mood theme; if you are of a creative bent, you can produce a series of small icons that depict your mood during any given entry and have it appear at the bottom of your post.

Starting at two dollars a month, you'll find that the Paid accounts, you have the largest amount of freedom to customize your account, and also unlock several features that make communicating on Livejournal easier. For instance, you'll be able view the friends' page of your friends, you'll be able to access two GB of of photo storage space as well as make voice posts and text posts from your mobile phone. You can also create new syndicated accounts and access Livejournal's unique Express Lane, an accelerated queue that will get you your Livejournal entries even during times of heavy site load.

Setting up your Livejournal only takes as long as filling out a form and creating a unique Livejournal name. Remember to read the terms of service; there has been controversy over the type of material that is acceptable to post and share, so make sure that you are comfortable with their rules. Otherwise, Livejournal has an extraordinarily user-friendly interface nd in the same hour that you create your account, you can be posting entries and joining communities!