Typepad v Wordpress v Blogger: Choices, Choices

I'm antsy and have been looking for a new blog provider over the last couple of days. I like Blogger; it's adequate and the code is easy to tinker with but feels so generic. Yes, I know you can get new skins and I've managed to tinker with it over the past couple of years (including the addition of a third column) yet it doesn't feel like me.

Increasingly, the internet is becoming the place for journalism and I already have a sizeable web presence (just Google my name and the word 'journalist') but this blog, however much I love it just doesn't feel like me. I want a clean, original template that's easy to customise and add widgets too so I've been looking at Blogger's two main competitors: Wordpress and Typepad.

My thing is, while I have my own site, I'm really not to keen on self-hosting. I'd love to get my own blog domain and have someone else host it, saves time and hopefully money. That way I can just put a 'blog has moved' note up and start afresh.

Last night, I put a shout out to the Twitterverse and the response has been massive and mixed; nearly everyone recommended self-hosting but the choice between Movable Type (Typepad's self-host option) and Wordpress has been nearly evenly split. Not exactly helping .... but still.

This evening Anne started a new thread on Journobiz about Typepad's Journalist Bailout Program which is designed to help all the (mainly American) journos screwed by the credit crunch and the massive layoffs from numerous media companies across the pond. I've emailed to find out if it's dependent on being a US-based journo but I think it's a fantastic idea, especially as most journos are expected to maintain a blog both inside and outside of work, often as a place to highlight work or comment on big issues.

With the new year coming up (along with my fifth year as a freelance journalist), I'm eager for a change and the chance to make my corner of the internet a more interesting place. I want a blog that not only looks impressive but also feels like an extension of me, I still have no idea where it's going but I'd look for migration to another provider in the very near future if I were you.