A little research - (I) Blogging

What is a blog?

The term "weblog" was coined by Jorn Barger in December 1997. Jane Perrone defines weblogs thusly;

"A weblog is, literally, a "log" of the web - a diary-style site, in which the author (a "blogger") links to other web pages he or she finds interesting using entries posted in reverse chronological order."

The shorter version, "blog," was coined by Peter Merholz who in April or May of 1999 broke the word weblog into the phrase "we blog" in the sidebar of his weblog.

Blogging combines the personal web page with tools to make linking to other pages easier, specifically blogrolls and trackbacks, as well as comments. This way, instead of a few people being in control of threads on a forum, or anyone able to start threads on a list, there is a moderating effect that is the personality of the weblog's owner. Dave Winer describes them as tour guides:

"A weblog is kind of a continual tour, with a human guide [whom] you get to know. There are many guides to choose from and each develops an audience. There's camaraderie and politics between the people who run weblogs. They point to each other in all kinds of structures, graphs, loops, etc.".

By 1999 weblogs were changing:

"While weblogs had always included a mix of links, commentary, and personal notes, in the post-Blogger explosion increasing numbers of weblogs eschewed this focus on the web-at-large in favor of a sort of short-form journal."

Rebecca Blood offers the following possible explanation:

"Blogger itself [and most other content management systems] places no restrictions on the form of content being posted. Its web interface, accessible from any browser, consists of an empty form box into which the blogger can type...anything: a passing thought, an extended essay, or a childhood recollection. With a click, Blogger will post the...whatever...on the writer's website, archive it in the proper place, and present the writer with another empty box, just waiting to be filled."

So now, five years later, the variation in blog content is huge and while bloggers argue the minutiae of "what is a blog", the definition for the time being must be the most all-encompassing. Strangely enough, its one of the earliest definitions, and was proffered by Brigitte Eaton at the eatonweb portal;

"a website that is updated frequently, with new material posted at the top of the page."

Please see Rebecca Blood's Weblogs: A History and Perspective for a comprehensive look at just that.