A Brief History of Blogging

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• A Brief History of Blogging
• Blogspheres as a Social Network
• Types of Blogs
• Featured Blogs
• Blog Directory

Blogs have become an integral part of online culture.  Practically everyone reads blogs now, whether they’re “official” news blogs associated with traditional news media, topic-based blogs related to one’s work or hobbies, or blogs purely for entertainment, just about anyone you ask has at least one favorite blog.  But it wasn’t always so.  Blogs have a relatively short history, even when compared with the history of the Internet itself.  And it’s only in the past five to ten years that they’ve really taken off and become an important part of the online landscape.

The modern blog evolved from the online diary, where people would keep a running account of their personal lives.  Most such writers called themselves diarists, journalists, or journalers.

The term "weblog" was coined by Jorn Barger on 17 December 1997.  The short form, "blog," was coined by Peter Merholz, who jokingly broke the word weblog into the phrase we blog in the sidebar of his blog Peterme.com in April or May 1999.  Shortly thereafter, Evan Williams at used "blog" as both a noun and verb ("to blog," meaning "to edit one's weblog or to post to one's weblog") and devised the term "blogger", leading to the popularization of the terms.

After a slow start, blogging rapidly gained in popularity during 1999 and the years following.  Since 2002, blogs have gained increasing notice and coverage for their role in breaking, shaping, and spinning news stories.  Blogging was used to draw attention to obscure news sources.  By 2004, the role of blogs became increasingly mainstream, as political consultants, news services, and candidates began using them as tools for outreach and opinion forming.

Today, though often seen as partisan gossips, bloggers sometimes lead the way in bringing key information to public light, with mainstream media having to follow their lead.  More often, however, news blogs tend to react to material already published by the mainstream media.

Many bloggers, particularly those engaged in participatory journalism, differentiate themselves from the mainstream media, while others are members of that media working through a different channel.  Some institutions see blogging as a means of "getting around the filter" and pushing messages directly to the public.  Some critics worry that bloggers respect neither copyright nor the role of the mass media in presenting society with credible news.

Many mainstream journalists, meanwhile, write their own blogs—well over 300, according to CyberJournalist.net's J-blog list.  Some bloggers have moved over to other media.

Blogging can result in a range of legal liabilities and other unforeseen consequences:

• Defamation or liability – Several cases have been brought before the national courts against bloggers concerning issues of defamation or liability.  U.S.  payouts related to blogging totaled $17.4 million by 2009; in some cases these have been covered by umbrella insurance.

• Employment – Employees who blog about elements of their place of employment can begin to affect the brand recognition of their employer.  In general, attempts by employee bloggers to protect themselves by maintaining anonymity have proved ineffective.

• Political dangers – Blogging can sometimes have unforeseen consequences in politically sensitive areas.  Blogs are much harder to control than broadcast or even print media.  As a result, totalitarian and authoritarian regimes often seek to suppress blogs and/or to punish those who maintain them.

• Personal safety – One consequence of blogging is the possibility of attacks or threats against the blogger, sometimes without apparent reason.  While a blogger's anonymity is often tenuous, Internet trolls who would attack a blogger with threats or insults can be emboldened by anonymity.  A blogger's code of conduct was developed to counter abusive online behavior.

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Blogspheres as a Social Network

The collective community of all blogs is known as the blogosphere.  Since all blogs are on the internet by definition, they may be seen as interconnected and socially networked, through blogrolls, comments, linkbacks (refbacks, trackbacks or pingbacks) and backlinks.  Discussions "in the blogosphere" are occasionally used by the media as a gauge of public opinion on various issues.  Because new, untapped communities of bloggers can emerge in the space of a few years, Internet marketers pay close attention to "trends in the blogosphere".

In a 2010 Technorati study, 36% of bloggers reported some sort of income from their blogs, most often in the form of ad revenue. This shows a steady increase from their 2009 report, in which only 28% of the blogging world reported their blog as a source of income, with the mean annual income from advertisements at $42,548.  Other common sources of blog-related income are paid speaking engagements and paid postings.

Almost half of all bloggers surveyed use twitter to interact with the readers of their blog, while an astounding 72% of bloggers use twitter for blog promotion.  Additionally, almost 9 out of 10 (87%) bloggers currently use Facebook.

Researchers have analyzed the dynamics of how blogs become popular.  There are essentially two measures of this: popularity through citations, as well as popularity through affiliation (i.e.  blogroll).  The basic conclusion is that while it takes time for a blog to become popular through blogrolls, permalinks can boost popularity more quickly, and are perhaps more indicative of popularity and authority than blogrolls, since they denote that people are actually reading the blog's content and deem it valuable or noteworthy in specific cases.

Within the blogosphere, several sub-communities have developed.  These communities are largely divided by genre.

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Types of Blogs

There are many different types of blogs, differing not only in the type of content, but also in the way that content is delivered or written.

• Personal blogs

  The personal blog, an ongoing diary or commentary by an individual, is the traditional, most common blog.  Personal bloggers usually take pride in their blog posts, even if their blog is never read.  Blogs often become more than a way to just communicate; they become a way to reflect on life, or works of art.  Blogging can have a sentimental quality.  Few personal blogs rise to fame and the mainstream but some personal blogs quickly garner an extensive following.

• Corporate and Organizational blogs

  A blog can be private, as in most cases, or it can be for business purposes.  Blogs used internally to enhance the communication and culture in a corporation or externally for marketing, branding or public relations purposes are called corporate blogs.  Similar blogs for clubs and societies are called club blogs, group blogs, or by similar names; typical use is to inform members and other interested parties of club and member activities.

• By Genre

  Some blogs focus on a particular subject, such as political blogs, travel blogs (also known as travelogs), project blogs, education blogs, niche blogs, legal blogs (often referred to as a blawgs) or dreamlogs.  Two common types of genre blogs are art blogs and music blogs.  A blog featuring discussions especially about home and family is not uncommonly called a mom blog.  While not a legitimate type of blog, one used for the sole purpose of spamming is known as a Splog.

  Food blogs allow foodies and aspiring chefs alike to share recipes, cooking techniques, and "food porn," for others to enjoy.  Food blogs often serve as a sort of online cookbook for followers, often containing restaurant critiques, product reviews, and step-by-step photography for recipes.

• By Media Type

  A blog comprising videos is called a vlog, one comprising links is called a linklog, a site containing a portfolio of sketches is called a sketchblog or one comprising photos is called a photoblog.  Blogs with shorter posts and mixed media types are called tumblelogs.  Blogs that are written on typewriters and then scanned are called typecast or typecast blogs; see typecasting (blogging).

• By Device

  Blogs can also be defined by which type of device is used to compose it.  A blog written by a mobile device like a mobile phone or PDA could be called a moblog.  One early blog was Wearable Wireless Webcam, an online shared diary of a person's personal life combining text, video, and pictures transmitted live from a wearable computer and EyeTap device to a web site.  This practice of semi-automated blogging with live video together with text was referred to as sousveillance.  Such journals have been used as evidence in legal matters.