The two major players in the personal blogging space are WordPress and Blogger (Google). Although these two well established names have been around the longest and have the largest user base for personal blog sites, there are plenty of alternatives if their style is not for you, each with their own differences and reasons why you may or may not wish to use them.

The blog of today is quite different from the blog of just a few years ago. Many are into ‘casual blogging’ where a blog post is not just (long) text written out but perhaps just an image or sound clip.

Interested in which of the best blog sites offer alternatives to the big players? Let’s go over some WordPress and Blogger alternatives that you might want to check out.

Tumblr

Tumblr (also known as a Tumble log) is a widely known blogging service which we have covered here on MakeUseOf before. Tumblr really excels in two areas: so-called “photo blogging” and its sense of community.

Tumblr’s community is centered around the follow, like and the reblog. If you ‘like’ a post – similar to Facebook – it will show at the bottom of the post. Reblogging is much the same but in addition it will post the item back to your Tumblr as well.

You can import the best blog site posts from a number of other services including Twitter, RSS feeds, or even AOL Instant Messenger.

Posterous

Posterous is another “microblogging” service like Tumblr. You are able to post images, text, video and audio. Like Tumblr, you can change your theme easily but unlike Tumblr there is no “reblog.”

Posts can be imported from any number of sources and will also be “sent out” to Facebook and Twitter. One of the simplest ways to submit a post – and in fact to start your Posterous account, is to send an email to post@posterous.com. After doing so you will automatically be set up for an account and your blog created.

Twitter

Not usually considered a “blogging” service, Twitter is actually a microblog by definition. If you are able to write your thoughts in 140 characters or less Twitter is actually a great way to communicate with others.

One of the reasons Twitter has been so successful is that you do not have a lot of time investment to get started and to keep updated. If you leave your profile on public anyone can read your posts just like a regular blog site.

Xanga

Another popular blogging service for the best blog sites out there is Xanga. One of the older blogging sites, it is definitely more for personal use.

Although Xanga used to be very popular it has waned somewhat recently with the rise of other sites, but is still popular especially with the younger crowd.

Weebly

Weebly is a hosted website and blogging service. Your account is free and ad-free, and if you want to upgrade to a domain and for certain other features there is a professional account available for a fee.

The one thing that I like about Weebly is how customizable the pages are. However, I think that is the same exact reason that more people do not use it. It is more complicated (than sending an email, as with Posterous) so for casual blogging it is more of a time commitment.

Which blogging service is for you?

As with many things in life, it depends on your personal tastes. Check out each site to see how it meshes with your personal style and how frequently you want to blog. For ease of use, I think Posterous or Tumblr win. For short messages, Twitter is great.

Let us know if you use any other hosted blogging service that you thing should be on the list of best blog sites, and what you like about it!

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