How Blogging Started

admin — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 15:17:10 +0000

In the past, there were different forms of digital communities, the most prominent of which were the “threads,” or messages that dwell on a particular topic. These threads were created by Internet forum software. Earlier, in the younger days of the Internet, Usenet allowed users to join discussion forums through the Moderated Newsgroup. Nowadays, people create online communities by blogging.

The concept of blogging was derived from the diary. People who wrote blogs were then known as journalists (from the word “journal”) and diarists. The diaries or journals allowed people to share personal stories to millions around the world. Two of the earliest bloggers, who both began in the 90s, were Jerry Pournelle and Justin Hall. Hall started his Justin’s Home Page in 1994, while he was still a student at Swarthmore College.

At that time, some journalists employed semi-automated blogging, a journal that combined text with live video. These online diaries were basically used for legal purposes. An example of this 1994’s Wearable Wireless Webcam.

Other forms of journal or blog came out in 1997; Scripting News was launched in April and Slashdot News for Nerds began in September of that year. Towards the end of 1997, in December, Jorn Barger, Robot Wisdom editor and blogger, came up with the term weblog. It was eventually shortened into blog by Peter Merholz in 1999.

Blogging slowly became popular from that time on. Online diaries and hosted blog tools caught the attention of the Internet-using public. Some of these include LiveJournal (March 1999) and Blogger.com, which was started by Pyra Labs in 1999. An exciting addition to the blogging concept was the tools that allowed users to link to other pages in an instant. Trackbacks, permalinks, and blogrolls allowed bloggers to find sites or users they share interests with.

By the early 2000s, blogging became even more popular and its function branched out into politics as political blogs began making their rounds online. Blogging eventually caught the attention of the journalism sector and many found ways to compare the two.

Blogging also became heavily used in other sectors of society, specifically in the news community. People and groups started to disseminate news and other information using blogs as early as 2002. Political candidates also used blogging as a means of sharing their ideas and opinions with the people.

After the attack on the World Trade Center, more and more people went into blogging and used it as a platform for their efforts against terrorism.

As the years go by, blogging becomes more and more mainstream. Many websites, both corporate and personal, now include blog pages that feature various stories related to their products, services, or advocacies. Some schools even encourage their students to blog about their lessons and activities in class.

From a simple “online diary,” blogging has now evolved into an important tool of communication and learning. Clearly, it is a concept that has grown into great magnitudes.

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How Blogging Started

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