Giving blogs a liveline

Just as the internet has evolved, so too has blogging. I set up my first blog in 2005, and as was the norm I updated it every now and then and that was about it. That still has its place of course, but liveblogging has injected a whole new life into blogging.

With traditional blogs, you can check in whenever suits. With a liveblog, the temptation's there to furiously hit the refresh button so that you don't miss a beat.

The most common type I've seen is the 'matchtracker', which RTÉ.ie use most weekends. Heineken.ie (pictured, bottom-left) have taken on a DCU student to liveblog during Heineken Cup matches.

It has its place in news also, however. RTÉ have begun to use it with news stories that chop and changes quite frequently, such as stories affecting transport. They used it during the volcanic ash cloud which affected air travel and the freezing weather in January that affected roads and flights.

Election campaigns also require frequent updating. The Guardian, the Daily Telegraph and BBC News are among the websites using liveblogs for the 2010 UK general election. On April 8, DCUfm used a liveblog to give up-to-date information on the students' union election count, proving that liveblogs aren't just for mainstream media, they're an easy, cheap and effective way for smaller outlets to get their news across too.