Blogs

The blog, short for weblog, was born in 1994 in the form of personal diaries.  These daily personal accounts were written by diarists, journalists, and journalers.  +Justin Hall, a blogging pioneer, started a web-based diary, initially offering guided tours of the web and eventually detailing his life.  In 2004, the New York Times referred to Mr. Hall as "the founding father of personal blogging."

Other forms of journals were also kept online as the blogging community started to grow in the late 1990s.  +John Carmack maintained a widely read journal and Steve Gibson, who was the first hired blogger for Ritual Entertainment.

During the earlier years, as companies started to build their web presence, they started to add 'what's new' and 'news' sections to their websites.  These manually updated sections evolved into what we know today as blogs.

In 1997, the term 'weblog' was coined by +Jorn Barger when he started his Robot Wisdom Weblog. He came up with term because he was essentially "logging the web" as he browsed.  Two years later, Peter Merholz shortened 'weblog' to 'blog'.

Blogging really took off in 1999 and the first hosted blog tools, like Blogger, came about.  These blog tools made linking from webpage to webpage easier.

In the early 2000s, blogging grew tremendously.  According to Jesse James Garrett's compiled list, there were 23 blogs on the Internet in 1999.  By 2006, there were 50 million blogs.

Today, blogs can be found all over the Internet.  There are personal blogs, company blogs, theme blogs, event blogs, among others.  It is a tool used by corporations, politicians, doctors, lawyers, and other professionals to share information and thoughts about current events and issues.  Blogging is now a part of the mainstream and an integral part of the online culture.