I started keeping a blog years ago, mainly because I figures some of my readers might be curious to know what was going on "behind the scenes". Until now, I have been using livejournal, but recently I have been unable to access my blog page while logged in and I can't view my friend's page either. I can make new posts, but the problems I have with viewing certain areas of livejournal just make it feel less like fun and more like a hassle.
I made a troubleshoot request to the site admins and they claimed my antivirus software was at the root of all the problems, that if I disabled it, all the problems would magically go away.

Call me paranoid, but I really feel uncomfortable with such a "solution".

So, I've been considering moving somewhere else. I did some research already about other blog sites, but I'd really like to hear more about how they are from people who actually use them.

Any bloggers out there? What would be a good blogging site to use that would also be free to use?
(Also it would be great if it had a feature to screen the posts like livejournal has with public and friends only posts...)

Hey! I have blogged for a while now. Of the free blogging sites out there, Blogspot (also called Blogger), Tumblr and Wordpress are the most popular.

I've tried Tumblr and Jux and Wordpress. Jux was the easiest to use, by far; also the best-looking. Only downside? No comments allowed, as it doesn't have a commenting system. Tumblr was a pain to navigate and set up, I didn;t even get past the first post and deleted my account.

Wordpress was easier, and better customisable. Not as far as Jux, but still pretty good! They have a range of looks for your blog, almost all of them free. It has a great commenting system and is linked to all the social networks. I'd suggest you use Wordpress - free, easy and you can keep a very thorough eye on the traffic and impact of your posts. Here's my blog if you want to take a look: comtedesire.wordpress.com/

I am a frequent blogger. lol. For almost ten years, I've been using Xanga as my blogging site. It's pretty amazing but not as popular now as it once was. I've also used Tumblr, Blogspot, and Wordpress (Also LJ, but I understand that we're trying to move away from that ).

Tumblr is very hard to navigate. I've had an account there for nearly a year and I still dislike going on there. Blogspot would probably be my second choice. And lastly, I just don't really like Wordpress and I'm not really sure why. We just don't click, I guess. XD I mean, I use it, but it's not my favorite. lol.

I was happy with livejournal - until it decided not to work for me.

From what I gathered, Blogspot/Blogger and Wordpress are the top two. I didn't find out much about Blogger though, in regards to how it is to use. How much can you customise with it, and is every post you make public? I learned in Wordpress you can make password-protected entries (though it still sounds a bit more of a hassle than lj's friends only entries...)

I don't know that much about Blogger, but the Blogger sites I've seen are mostly very simple looking. I'd still vote Wordpress - it's the easiest to monitor, edit posts and so on, on it.

I know it's super silly BUT I made a Facebook page;
It's super easy and a lot of my readers have one.
They go like the page and they don't have to physically visit my page for updates;
My updates appear in their news feed.
It's pretty helpful and super efficiant and personally it's helped a lot of my peoplessss keep updated and it's easier for them to contact me because I get all updates directly to my phone.

I like blogging.
And facebook actually has all the capabilities and more of a blog.

Wordpress is the best as far as user friendly and ability to customize.

I have a beauty blog over at Blogger (Blogspot), and have maintained a blog there for quite a few years. Even better is if you already have a Gmail or Google account, you don't have to sign up again to use the service. I like it because it does connect. It makes life easier at times.

Thank you all for your suggestions! :3 I really appreciate your insight!

I did end up making an account on Wordpress... And then my tech savvy friend swooped in and fixed my livejournal for me. ^^; So I'll be sticking to my old blog after all now that it's working again.

Figures that this would happen only after I seriously considered moving and asked for help.