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A blog is a special kind of website used to share information. It often looks like an online diary where people write entries called posts.

BlogActive.com Screenshot 2004
BlogActive.com Screenshot 2004

Most blogs show posts in reverse chronological order. This means the newest writing always appears at the very top of the page. This way, readers see the most recent updates first. Some blogs focus on one person's life or a single topic. Others are multi-author blogs, which means many different people write for them.

Blogosphere map
Blogosphere map

These larger blogs are often used by news groups or universities.

How a blog works depends on its content and style. A typical post combines written text with digital images and links. These links can lead to other web pages or even other blogs.

Blogosphere map
Blogosphere map

While most blogs use text, some focus on other media. For example, a photoblog focuses on pictures, and a vlog focuses on video. There are even podcasts that focus on audio. Many blogs are also interactive, which is a way of saying they allow two-way communication. This allows visitors to leave comments and talk with the author. Authors can moderate these comments to keep the space friendly.

Blogs started to grow in the late 1990s. Before then, you had to know computer programming to publish things on the web. People had to use tools like HTML and File Transfer Protocol.

Eastcampusfire glog crop
Eastcampusfire glog crop

In 1994, Justin Hall began personal blogging while at Swarthmore College. He is often seen as one of the earliest bloggers. In 1995, a site called Ty, Inc. had an "Online Diary." This was the first commercial blog. It featured Beanie Babies that visitors voted for every month. These early steps helped lead to the easy tools we use today.

Many people helped name and shape the blogging world. Jorn Barger created the term "weblog" in December 1997. Later, Peter Merholz made the short version, "blog," in May 1999. He did this by jokingly breaking the word apart. Soon after, Evan Williams used the word as both a noun and a verb. He also helped make the term "blogger" popular through his work at Pyra Labs. In 1998, Bruce Ableson launched Open Diary. This was important because it was the first to let readers leave comments.

Blogosphere map
Blogosphere map

This helped create the first real blog communities.

Blogs can have a big impact on the real world. In 2002, a blog called Talking Points Memo helped report on U.S. Senator Trent Lott. The blog shared information that major news companies had not reported yet. This helped create a political crisis that led to his resignation.

Talkingpointsmemo2
Talkingpointsmemo2

Blogs can also be used for education, which are called edublogs. They can even be used for social networking to build relations. By 2022, there were over 600 million public blogs. This is a huge number compared to the 1.9 billion total websites. They are now a main way we share ideas every day.

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🖼️ Images & Media (4)
File:Eastcampusfire glog crop.png
Eastcampusfire glog crop.png
File:Talkingpointsmemo2.png
Talkingpointsmemo2.png
File:BlogActive.com Screenshot 2004.jpg
BlogActive.com Screenshot 2004.jpg
File:Blogosphere map.jpg
Blogosphere map.jpg
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