The term ‘weblog’ was first termed by Jorn Barger in 1997 (Blood 2000) who described weblogs as ‘webpages where a weblogger “logs” all the other webpages she finds interesting’ (The 911 Digital Archive 2007).
However, weblogs quickly evolved from Barger’s original description, becoming something akin to a public online journal, updated regularly with a ‘wide variety of content [such as] written essays, annotated links, documents, graphics, and multimedia’ (Winer, cited in Grumet 2003). As well-known blogger Cameron Barrett of Camworld (cited in The 911 Digital Archive 2007) characterises it, ‘weblogs … are designed for an audience. They have a voice. They have a personality … they are an interactive extension of who you are’.
Camworld and the Eatonweb Portal were early examples of the weblog, establishing it as a new form of media publishing. In August 1999, the creation of web publishing tools such as Blogger allowed would-be bloggers with no prior knowledge of HTML coding to set up and publish their own weblogs easily, thus paving the way for its surge and eventual ubiquity (Blood 2007). The blogging phenomenon had arrived.
Salon.com (1998) discussed the beginning of the blogging phenomenon from back in 1998, when bloggers, or ‘online diarists’ as they were commonly known then, posted regular entries that documented anecdotes of their personal lives. Salon states that there were less than 50 bloggers in 1996, and by one account, nearly 500 in 1998.
While Salon (1998) questioned: ‘Has it really become impossible for writers to broadcast daily dispatches from the depths of their hearts as a sustainable and rewarding creative enterprise?’, we can clearly see that this is not the case from our vantage point now in 2007.
Weblogs have evolved constantly since its inception in the late 90’s, with more people setting up their weblogs every day. Technorati, an Internet search engine and weblog aggregator, currently indexes 71.3 million weblogs as of 6th March 2007 (Technorati 2007).
BoingBoing.net, currently listed as Technorati’s ‘Most Favourited Blog’ and 2nd-placed in the ‘Most Linked Blog’ list as of time of writing, describes itself as ‘weblog of cultural curiosities and interesting technologies’ (Technorati 2007).
BoingBoing certainly fulfills Barger’s first definition of the weblog, posting up links to other webpages that fall under a variety of topics such as politics, entertainment and technology. As Blood (2000) first described the ‘original style’ of the weblog:
Their editors present links both to little-known corners of the web and to current news articles they feel are worthy of note. Such links are nearly always accompanied by the editor’s commentary. An editor with some expertise in a field might demonstrate the accuracy or inaccuracy of a highlighted article or certain facts therein; provide additional facts he feels are pertinent to the issue at hand; or simply add an opinion or differing viewpoint from the one in the piece he has linked. Typically this commentary is characterized by an irreverent, sometimes sarcastic tone. More skillful editors manage to convey all of these things in the sentence or two with which they introduce the link (making them, as Halcyon pointed out to me, pioneers in the art and craft of microcontent). Indeed, the format of the typical weblog, providing only a very short space in which to write an entry, encourages pithiness on the part of the writer; longer commentary is often given its own space as a separate essay.
The statistics of unique visitors to BoingBoing also attest to the blogging phenomenon: for the entire year of 2003, BoingBoing had 4.6 million unique visits. Compare this to the month of January 2007 alone – BoingBoing had a staggering 2.5 million unique visits.
Weblogs in the online diary format also continue to attract large numbers of visitors every day. Wendy Cheng aka Xiaxue, arguably Singapore’s most infamous blogger, attracts 30,000 unique visits daily; she has also managed to turn her weblog into a full-time source of income by selling advertising space and endorsing commercial products and services with accompanying writeups in her weblog.
The nature of the weblog has continued to evolve as well. Wikipedia (2007) states that ‘There are various types of blogs, and each differs in the way content is delivered or written’:
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.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 is called a moblog.Genre
Some blogs focus on a particular subject, such as political blogs, travel blogs, fashion blogs, project blogs or legal blogs (often referred to as a blawgs). While not a legitimate type of blog, one used for the sole purpose of spamming is known as a Splog. A Slog (Site or website log) is a section or ’slice’ of a regular business website, which is seamlessly integrated within the regular website structure but is produced with blogging software.
Weblog communities have also sprung up along with the advent of blogging. With such a large number of weblogs populating the Internet, blog communities are a convenient way for people to meet fellow bloggers with similar interests. Search engines like Technorati made this search even easier.
Weblog publishing tools like LiveJournal also allow members to form communities based on a variety of factors from geographical location, favourite authors or films, and even sexual orientation.
Blogging has also provided opportunities for bloggers to have their weblogs reproduced in print format in lieu of their immense popularity and consistently high readership. One such example is Belle de Jour, owner of The Diary of a London Call Girl, who received mainstream media attention with her compelling and often explicit accounts of her profession as a call girl. On the other hand, Colby Buzzell, a machinegunner in the US Army, began blogging about his experiences as a low-level grunt while serving a year on tour in Iraq in 2004. He became a media sensation and his blog was eventually published as a book called My War: Killing Time in Iraq.
This discussion of blogging is only a brief introduction at best. We are positioned in an era of constant change; with the continued advancements in technology and the multifaceted nature of the Internet, such a future only presents us with a myriad of exciting possibilties.
We have seen in a mere few years how blogs have morphed from rudimentarily-designed, sparse pages filled with text and the occasional image into a multimodal behemoth that incorporates video, sound and animation. Who can predict what the blog will evolve into in ten year’s time?
Indeed, the possibilities are endless. This, however, is certain: the blog here now, and definitely here to stay.
