blogging

"Blog" is an abbreviated version of "weblog," which is a term used to describe web sites that maintain an ongoing chronicle of information. A blog features diary-type commentary and links to articles on other Web sites, usually presented as a list of entries in reverse chronological order

What is Blogging? Blogging is the act of posting content on a blog (a Web log or online journal) or posting comments on someone else's blog.

Why Blogging is so popular

Social media search engine optimization (SEO) tool Automatic delivery of contents via electronic RSS (Really Simple Syndication) data feeds No need of much technical knowledge Diversity of content

A typical blog layout

A main content area with articles listed chronologically, newest on top. Often, the articles are organized into categories. An archive of older articles. A way for people to leave comments about the articles. A list of links to other related sites, sometimes called a "Blogroll". One or more "feeds" like RSS, Atom or RDF files.

history
The term "weblog" was coined by Jorn Barger on 17 December 1997 "blog," was coined by Peter Merholz (Peterme.com in April or May 1999) Evan Williams at Pyra Labs used "blog" as both a noun and verb

Origins

before blogging become popular Usenet, commercial online services such as GEnie, BiX and the early CompuServe, e-mail lists and Bulletin Board Systems (BBS). In the 1990s, Internet forum software, created running conversations with "threads." Threads are topical connections between messages on a virtual "corkboard."

The modern blog evolved from the online diary Justin Hall, 1994 ,student, Swarthmore College- earliest blogger Dave Winer's Scripting News-oldest and longest running Wearable Wireless Webcam, an online shared diary of a person's personal life combining text, video, and pictures transmitted live from a wearable computer and EyeTap device to a web site in 1994.

Rise in popularity
Blog usage spread 1999 and the years following, being further popularized by the near-simultaneous arrival of the first hosted blog tools Bruce Ableson launched Open Diary in October 1998, which soon grew to thousands of online diaries. Open Diary innovated the reader comment, becoming the first blog community where readers could add comments to other writers' blog entries Brad Fitzpatrick started LiveJournal in March 1999. Evan Williams and Meg Hourihan (Pyra Labs) launched blogger.com in August 1999 (purchased by Google in February 2003)

Political impact
Since 2002, blogs have gained increasing notice and coverage for their role in breaking, shaping, and spinning news stories Irrespective of left right political spectrum