The History of Blogging

Part Two

If you’ve wandered back here after bravely journeying through Part One of this series, you now know that blogging about blogging is not only possible, it’s inevitable.

So, just how did we go from cryptic diary entries and static web pages to the bustling world of interactive blogging?

In the last post, I discussed some of the significant events that took place in 1999, including the origin of the term “blog,” which we still use today to refer to the popular online writing medium. 

Let’s go back just a year, to 1998, a year before we finally referred to it as a “blog.” 

The First Blogging Platforms

1998.

This was the year we were introduced to Open Diary, one of the first platforms for people to post personal journals, share daily life updates, and connect with other users. 

Open Diary was the first among many other online platforms to make this type of written communication and online sharing accessible to regular users, even if they had very little programming experience. It was a form of interactive journaling, not unlike LiveJournal. 

Open Diary was one of the earliest platforms that allowed readers to comment on published entries.

A precursor to “blogging” (and even how social media platforms are used today), Open Diary transformed static webpages into dynamic, interactive communities. It foreshadowed features that would become standard in blogging platforms soon after “blog” became a recognized term.

Open Diary set the stage for what would eventually become known as “blogging.” 

Now let’s jump right ahead to 1999, the tail-end of the 20th century, when we were introduced to three new blogging platforms that would change the internet: 

Xanga

Launched in 1999, Xanga started as a site primarily for sharing book and music reviews. Not long after this, it pivoted toward a journaling format. 

What set Xanga apart at the time was its emphasis on the social aspects of blogging.

Similar to how we use blogs and social media today, Xanga users could add friends, subscribe to other blogs, and leave comments.

Xanga also set the stage for other social networking platforms like MySpace and Facebook by incorporating social features into the blogging experience. 

LiveJournal

LiveJournal was the platform I was most familiar with at the time, simply through word of mouth. 

Like I mentioned in the previous blog, I didn’t have my own LiveJournal account. I was a private kid who kept much of my thoughts to myself, in handwritten journals that I’ve misplaced over the years; and they’re probably now in the hands of a complete stranger who pulls them out from time to time if they need a good laugh…. 

In retrospect, though, I really love the concept of LiveJournal and appreciate its influence on other platforms that followed. And there were a lot that followed. 

Created in 1999 by Brad Fitzpatrick, LiveJournal was a way for users to keep in touch with their friends by sharing personal updates. It expanded very quickly. Users could publish live journal entries and also form communities based on their shared interests and passions. 

LiveJournal truly became one of the first platforms to nurture online communities that were centered around varied topics, ranging from fanfiction and personal storytelling to politics and mental health awareness.  

The innovative journaling platform also offered a “friends list” and community posting that set the stage for many of the social media and blogging sites we see and use today.

As influential as it was, LiveJournal eventually waned in popularity soon after the mid-2000s. 

Other blogging platforms like Blogger and WordPress, as well as some rising social networks, began to take over. 

Blogger

Only during this period, in the early days of blogging, can you actually name a site after the very medium itself. 

Founded in 1999 by Pyra Labs, Blogger offered a more user-friendly interface that made publishing blogs accessible to virtually anyone. Like with Open Diary, you didn’t need any technical expertise to run your own blog. 

Blogger was also unique for its time. It made instant publishing simple, and you could easily manage and streamline your blog posts.  

By 2003, in a move that pushed blogging into the mainstream, Google purchased Blogger and made the blogging platform free. This decision removed barriers for millions of users and introduced the concept of blogging to the global mainstream since it offered better features and greater visibility. 

And because of the ease of use and zero-cost model, the growth of personal blogs skyrocketed. It was a democratization of online publishing, which then enabled the explosion of the personal blogging era. 

And by the way, Blogger is still around and remains in operation today. 

Want to know exactly how blogging became established as a core part of the internet ecosystem?

Look no further than Blogger. 

The launch of these blogging platforms collectively marked a turning point in the history of the Internet.

They not only transformed blogging from a niche, tech-savvy pursuit but also expanded it into a widespread cultural and social phenomenon. 

Most significantly, these blogging platforms pioneered features that are now considered standard in social media, helping shape online discourse and grow communities.

In the next part of this blog series, I’ll dive into the blogging landscape during the 2010s and what the future holds for this online writing medium.