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Blog
A blog is a user generated website where entries are made
in journal style and displayed in a reverse chronological
order.
The term "blog" is derived from "Web log."
Blogs often provide commentary or news on a particular subject,
such as food, politics, or local news; some function as more
personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images,
and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related
to its topic.
The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive
format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are
primarily textual although some focus on photographs (photoblog),
sketchblog, videos (vlog), or audio (podcasting), and are
part of a wider network of social media.
History
Chronicles, commonplaces, diaries, and perzines can all be
seen as predecessors of blogs.
Before blogging became popular, digital communities took many
forms, including Usenet, e-mail lists and bulletin board systems
(BBS). In the 1990s, Internet forum software, such as WebEx,
created running conversations with "threads". Threads
are topical connections between messages on a metaphorical
"corkboard". Some have likened blogging to the mass-observation
movement of the mid-20th century.
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. A few called themselves
escribitionists. The Open Pages webring included members of
the online-journal community. Justin Hall, who began eleven
years of personal blogging in 1994 while a student at Swarthmore
College, is generally recognized as one of the earliest bloggers.
Early webblogs were simply manually
updated components of common websites. However, the evolution
of tools to facilitate the production and maintenance of web
articles posted in said chronological fashion made the publishing
process feasible to a much larger, less technical, population.
Ultimately, this resulted in the distinct class of online
publishing that produces blogs we recognize today. For instance,
the use of some sort of browser-based software is now a typical
aspect of "blogging".
Blogs can be hosted by dedicated blog hosting services, or
they can be run using blog software, such as WordPress, blogger
or LiveJournal, or on regular web hosting services, such as
DreamHost. |
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