Archive for May, 2009
The History of Blogging 2
The History of Blogging; 2001 and Beyond
On this history of blogging page, we’ll cover blogs from 2001 and up to the present. (Here’s the other blogging history page, covering up to 2000.)
The Stage is Set: 2001–2004
American blogs hit the scene in 2001. Around this time we started seeing the blogging how to manuals. Another funny thing schools of journalism started looking at what was different between blogging an journalism.
Starting in 2002 we started seeing blogs about Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott. This created some problems by some of the things said when bloggers broke the story to the media. Bloggers start a political problem that caused Lott to step down as the Majority Leader.
For some strange reason this gave some credibility to blogs as having the real story. But it is the bloggers that light the way to the public and the mainstream media. It also works the other way around with the bloggers adding to the stories of the mainstream media.
By 2002 blogs are breaking and shaping the stories of the day. Back then the bloggers created their own view points on the Iraq war. Making something different than the left-right and political views.
Going back to the second war in Iraq you could say it was the first blog war.
Bloggers of Iraq got a big readership. We even had blogs started by soldiers in the war. We even got a new word “warblog” presented people with another first hand view to the realities. The public got for the first time a very different viewpoint from the official sources of news.
An almost instant commentary provided by bloggers on televised events. This process was referred to as “liveblogging” kind of a real-time commentary.
The History of Blogging: 2004–present
Starting about 2004 blogs become the main source of political consultants and candidates. The new services available and popularity allowed them to be used to form both popular and unpopular opinions.
By 2004 in the summer the Republican and Democratic Parties bloggers blogs turned into a standard publicity tool. The high profile commentators on television created their own blogs. In 2004 Merriam Webster’s Dictionary claimed “blog” as the word of the year.
It was a blog that brought to light “Rathergate”. Bloggers brought evidence to prove the documents Dan Rather used to “prove” his news report were forgeries.
Blogs have become the primary news sources some of the high profile cases were the Tsunami of Dec 2004. Another was Hurricane Katrina Aug 2005.
Fortune magazine provided information on a number of blogs the people in business just could not ignore.Code of conduct for Bloggers was suggested by Tim O’Reilly in 2007.
2008 and On: The Future of Blogging?
There had been speculation that blogs will have reached their highest numbers in 2007. The thought process was that more and more people were building websites as opposed to blogs. And also, the rate of “dead” blogs would offset new blogs. So far, there’s not any indication that blog building is slowing down. In fact, many people add blogs to their website!
In addition to the text blogging we know, podcasting (audio blogs) and vlogs (video blogs) are getting more and more popular.
Where will the history of blogging be in another 5 years? Given the rate of technology growth, you can be sure of one thing; it won’t be what we predict today!
History of Blogging
The history of blogging starts back further than most people realize. Although modern blogging has been around for at least 9 years, the origins were way back, before PCs became a familiar item.
Before the Beginning: 1983–1990
Back in the early days we had something called Usenet, a serial medium. It had a newsgroup that was moderated. CompuServe was also one of the original newsgroups that became popular.
The posting in the newsgroup was in the control of a single individual of group. These newsgroups were really just moderated discussions. Still, they were the forerunners of today’s blogging (as well as user forums).
The History of Blogging and the First Real Blogs: 1994–2001
What happened was the old online diary that people would keep track of their personal things kind of turned into the blog we know today. The old writers of the online diaries had many different names they called themselves. For example, they would describe themselves as diarists, journalists, journalers and even escribitionists!
Very early on, weblogs meant tracking the updates to a website. What happened over time was that new tools allowed the automatic posting of articles on the web, in a reverse chronological order. This made it simple for the average person, so anyone could get in on the action. This is what came to be known as the blogs we have today.
One of the oldest weblogs is Scripting News, started in 1997, and still going strong today! Take a look back at some of the posts from way back when — they are fascinating.
Here is one I hadn’t heard of as an early blog. Called Wearable Wireless Webcam (no longer in operation), it consisted of someone’s personal life being recorded with text, live pictures and video. They used a wearable computer devise called an EyeTap to transmit the pictures and video live. This type of blogging got a new name “sousveillance” combining the video and text into a journal, some of which were used as evidence for legal matters.
Jorn Barger, in December 1997, came up with the term “weblog”. And now the person the originated the “blog” started it as a joke by making the phrase we blog on a weblog he called Peterme.com sometime in 1999. It stuck as the new noun meaning of the weblog and meant to post to your weblog.
Although off to a slow start, people picked up on blogging very fast. In 1999 what helped was the first of the hosted blog tools. This helped blogging grow in popularity.
You ready for more? Check out the next history of blogging page where we’ll talk about the years 2001 to present…and beyond!
Home Based Business Start Up
A home based business start up is something that you have to consider carefully. If you want your business from home to be successful (and who doesn’t), you have some decisions to make ahead of time. Here are some ideas for home based business planning.
Take Stock of Yourself
The first thing you want to do is take a long look at your strengths and your weaknesses. Evaluate what you’re good at, or what you’d like to be good at.
And also consider what you don’t like, what you aren’t good at and what you don’t care to learn. It makes a difference when choosing your business!
Too many people get carried away with the thoughts of big dollars to consider if they’d like to do the business, day in and day out.
For example, if you really hate writing, running a successful website would be a challenge (although not impossible, as you will see).
If you’re shy and don’t like to talk on the phone, many (but not all) network marketing companies may not be a good match. However, maybe blogging or an internet affiliate program would be just your cup of tea.
So right now, take out a piece of paper and a pencil. Jot down what you like to do. Then note what you don’t like. You’ll need to match this list up with your potential business opportunities and ideas.
What’s Needed for a Home Based Business Start Up?
You don’t necessarily need a ton of money to start a home based business, but some sort of investment will need to be made. For example, if your business is selling home-made widgets on ebay, you’ll need to invest your time in making the widgets, your money in buying the supplies and for your ebay listing.
For a website business, you will have to invest in a domain name, web hosting and perhaps SEO tutorials or courses. You might even choose to have your website researched, designed and written for you with managed web hosting! (Great for those who would love the recurring income of a website, but who don’t like to write.)
Starting a Home Based Business – At Home
One thing you really do want to consider for your home based business start up is where you’ll work. Here in the United States, if you have a dedicated workspace in your home, you can claim it as a deduction on your income taxes. The key is that it’s a space used for your business. Even if it’s just a spare closet where you store supplies, or a desk where you work on your computer.
Starting a home based business means a lot of thinking and working; do you have a space to work that’s distraction-free? Working in the corner of the living room might not be such a great idea if you get too involved with the latest TV show on the screen. This is your business; treat it like one.
Home Based Business Plan
Have you considered writing up a business plan for your new endeavor? If you haven’t, you should. At the very least, you need some goals, action items and time frames.
Who is your audience? And don’t say, “everyone who buys my product” or “anyone who reads my website”. Nope, you have to have a clear idea of who exactly you are writing for, selling to, etc. A scattered approach to your business will just leave you dazed when nothing happens.
Here’s something else to consider: is self-employment right for you? Not everyone is suited to run their own business, for one reason or another. Do you have what it takes to own one yourself?
These are ideas for a home based business start up. It’s up to you to investigate and decide what’s right for your own self.
Top of Home Based Business Start Up Page