Full disclosure: I've been using Blogger for years.
This puts me into a fun position though, as I have been able see Blogger's evolution into the powerful, and yet surprisingly simple, blogging platform it is today.
The key to Blogger is its simple, minimalist style, which is even stronger in the beta version of web application. Setting up a new blog is straightforward and easy: select a name for for the blog, a .blogspot address, and a template to start. Blogger offers a wide selection of basic templates, all of which can be deeply customized using their template designer. Or, if you are the more hands on type, Blogger allows you to use your own custom HTML and CSS.
Posting to Blogger is also really simple. The publisher, in keeping with the rest of Blogger's design, is clean and easy, with both familiar word processing controls and HTML. This allows you to embed everything from images and videos, to widgets and forms. Almost anything you and put into a regular website can be embedded into a Blogger post.
Blogger offers many other features advanced user might find useful. It has built in analytics for users who want to watch where their traffic is coming from, and options to monetize their blog with ads relevant to their content. Writing about books? Google has recently partnered with Amazon to create an associate program whereby purchases made through links to products can net some profit to the blogger.
For personal blogs and more, Blogger is a great choice of platform.
Three blogs I follow on a daily basis are io9, Put This On, and the Tor blog. io9 keeps me up to date on sci-fi news, as well as hosting an active community of science fiction and fantasy fans. Put This On is a men's style blog and web series that discusses the basics of men's style and offers suggestions on how to achieve a look that is both fashionable and timeless, disregarding trends and fluctuations in style. The Tor blog provides me with information on upcoming releases, as well as information other posts related to information on the publishing business and its workings.
Blogging is taking on an increasing role in the way people take in information, which has its ups and downs. Blogging is much more flexible than traditional print media in that it can get the latest news stories out as soon as they break. While this can result in some credibility issues when further fact finding and corrections prove facts to be as otherwise stated, or sources are not as reliable as they may have made themselves out to be, blogs are also more willing to admit that they were wrong and issue corrections and updates to their stories. It is a young form of journalism, but it offers much in variety and growth.
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