Where Did the Word Blog Come From?

After Barger used the term weblog, a shorter term, “blog” was coined by Peter Merholz, who joked around with the word weblog by breaking it into a phrase “we blog” in the sidebar of his website called Peterme.com in 1999.

Shortly after that, Evan Williams of Pyra Labs used the word blog as if it were a real noun and verb. “To blog,” as he phrased it, meant to post or edit a weblog. He then devised another term, “blogger” which referred to the person posting entries in the weblog.

The virtual world caught on to the use of the new terms and they are now part of everybody’s vocabulary, although not many people actually know where the word blog originated from.

Blogs Versus Websites

A blog is distinct from a standard website because it is much easier to update. One of the unique features of a blog is its use of particular type of software that enables a user to include regular posts to a page. The entries are displayed in reverse chronological order or in any order the user desires.

Another key characteristic is the blog's ability to archive entries according to the dates they were posted. These features have made blogs into venues for online journalism and into a means used to publish daily accounts or diaries of life events. However, many blogs today do not necessarily follow the date or diary format.

History of the Blog

Many of the earlier Internet enthusiasts put up online journals to detail and announce their points of view or to simply share links to interesting websites. These early diarys were usually standard web pages, not "blogs." Before programs such as Dreamweaver and Frontpage, web page building was done manually. This meant that each time a blogger updated his site, he ran the risk of having broken links within the website so readers were sometimes left with errors such as “page not found.”

To address the need to simplify web posting, web designers and computer programmers created software that could automate the process of updating online journals. This paved the way for the birth of the weblog.

Blogger.com Is Introduced

A website called blogger.com was put up in 1999. It offered free accounts for blogs to anyone who wanted online space to write. It was a huge hit and millions of amateur and professional writers from around the world started to create their own blogs.

This instigated a huge online phenomenon. Blogging formed the biggest online community where conversing came in the form of posting entries. Blogs eventually changed the way students studied, instructors taught, journalists wrote, and families and friends connected. Soon, businesses jumped the bandwagon and saw the possibilities of blogging for their online marketing.

Uses of Blogs Today

Blogging is used to provide companies and customers with ways to communicate and meet and to discover what interests and motivates them. Businesses see what customers are attracted to and directly gauge how their online presence affects consumer activity.

Blogging is a very active field in the online world with more than 400,000 entries being posted each day while 12,000 new blog accounts are opened and created per day. People look into blogs to do research, to find great ideas, to gather tips, to get a good laugh, or to vent negative feelings. The blogosphere (the interconnection of blogs) is said to double in size every five months.

Starting a Blog

Anyone can start a blog in just minutes. There are a few simple steps to follow to be on your way:

You must decide what subject your blog will feature. It can be a simple blog that will record everyday events of your life or you can devote your blog to a passion or hobby.
Select your software. Examples of blogging software include Blogger and Wordpress.
Customize your blog according to your subject. Add photos, select a color scheme, and create your profile.
Write your very first post. Do this by first welcoming your readers and introducing your subject. Make it concise.
After posting your first entry, you can then update your blog regularly, depending on your schedule. If you have loyal readers, be sure to update your blog consistently. Set your own schedule and stick to it.

Blog tools are so simple that a novice Internet user can easily learn how to blog.