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Brief history of blogs
So where do all these blogs come from? How did they go from being an underground geek toy to a conventional tool that has revolutionized politics, journalism, marketing and media?
I always find that when I learn about a new technology or a way to do something online, the geeks have already been there (and I say the word 'geek' with total affection, I am also one!). Before businesses became inseparable from the computer, email or the Internet, academics and scrap makers were there first, kicking the tires and playing with technology. Blogging was no exception.
Many of the first Internet geeks wrote online magazines detailing interesting links and insights. As this was before programs like FrontPage and Dreamweaver, everything was done by hand, and that was a great nuisance. Every time he updated the site, he ran the risk of breaking links within the website and leaving his readers stranded with the dreaded 'page not found' error. Finally, computer programmers and web designers got tired of all this manual work and created their own software to automate the process of updating their magazine websites. Thus was born the weblog.
In 1999, a website called Blogger (http://www.blogger.com/) was launched, offering free blogs to anyone who wants it. Millions of people from all over the world logged in and started creating their own blogs.
The biggest conversation in the world had begun. Blogs have changed the way academics investigate, journalists write, families connect and politicians raise funds. It was only a matter of time before companies woke up and realized the power of blogs for online marketing.
Blogs provide a way for companies and customers to meet in common ground to talk about what excites and motivates them. It also allows them to follow closely where and under what circumstances they talk about their products online.
Today, blogs continue to grow at a rapid pace with more than 400,000 posts added per day and 12,000 new blogs created every day. Millions of people search blogs for a good laugh, a great idea, fantastic advice or instant analysis. The blogosphere doubles its size.
every 5 months, allowing anyone, anywhere, in any language, to leave their mark on the world to share their ideas, passion and products.
'Blog' was the word of the year for 2004 according to Merriam-Webster, the famous dictionary editor. The year 2004 marked a turning point for blogs as a requested media format. Now it was seen as a place to gather large audiences of devout readers who used blogs to complement, complement and verify their nightly news.
My favorite milestone for blogs was when 'Blogs' appeared as a category in the Jeopardy game show. I'll take blogs for a thousand, Alex!
