I'm actually using my gmail account to compose and publish this post directly, without even logging in to blogger. This way, nobody in office can tell at first glance that I'm blogging. It would just seem as if I'm composing an email. Of course, I could make it even more believable by putting a dear sir/ma'am at the beginning. Or a Dear Diary.
The official definition would be to call it a web log instead of a blog but that would be, like, totally, uncool, like, you know, like yea.
But no matter whether you call it a blog, web log, journal or dear diary, you would probably have seen or experienced part of its evolution.
It was only in 1999 that blogs became popular, but even so, it was only for those in the youth demographic. Students used it to vent out frustrations or post ideas or reflections of lectures. Most would rather write it out than type.
Then the blog revolution came. Hosts like livejournal and blogger gained publicity by word of mouth, and experts all sat around and discussed this new trend. Suddenly it seemed as if everyone was blogging. And why not? It offered simplicity - just type and click publish. It offered freedom - why censor your own words? Just rave and rant! Best of all, it offered a chance to be heard, by the millions of people who surf the web. But if everybody is busy blogging, who's busy reading the posts?
So, a natural evolution came about. Podcastings, videos, blog skins, etc etc, it just came. And so now we have all we could ever have. Password protected posts, so your ex can't read about you hating his guts, or parents finding out your desire to run away from home. Skins of every color and type to help you ensure your blog stands out among the rest. You have advertisements on blogs, so one can write and earn money at the same time. And mobile blogging, and it seems as if there is nothing left to revolutionize it any more.
What's the future of blogging then? Googling doesn't find any answer to the question, and perhaps we would never know. Creation of blogs is still high, as much as its demise. True that there are a lot of blogs doesn't mean a lot of people still blog, since some simply stop blogging. Then again, there are some who own more than one blog.
Will blogging hit the ceiling and fade away, like the burst of the dotcom bubble? Surely not, since it caters to a need inside each of us - the need to be heard. It gives us a voice, and most of us don't bite the hand that feeds us. Perhaps there will be two distinct types of blogs in the future. One which is public and allows us to express our views, opinions on any subject, openly and without discrimination. The other would be that which is highly secure, and hack-resistant. The latter blog allows us to reveal our deepest secrets to ourselves. It allows us to pen down our thoughts crucial to our emotional life, and answers the questions we post.
What do you think? Will blogging decline steadily or simply remain constant till the internet gets overcrowded?
The official definition would be to call it a web log instead of a blog but that would be, like, totally, uncool, like, you know, like yea.
But no matter whether you call it a blog, web log, journal or dear diary, you would probably have seen or experienced part of its evolution.
It was only in 1999 that blogs became popular, but even so, it was only for those in the youth demographic. Students used it to vent out frustrations or post ideas or reflections of lectures. Most would rather write it out than type.
Then the blog revolution came. Hosts like livejournal and blogger gained publicity by word of mouth, and experts all sat around and discussed this new trend. Suddenly it seemed as if everyone was blogging. And why not? It offered simplicity - just type and click publish. It offered freedom - why censor your own words? Just rave and rant! Best of all, it offered a chance to be heard, by the millions of people who surf the web. But if everybody is busy blogging, who's busy reading the posts?
So, a natural evolution came about. Podcastings, videos, blog skins, etc etc, it just came. And so now we have all we could ever have. Password protected posts, so your ex can't read about you hating his guts, or parents finding out your desire to run away from home. Skins of every color and type to help you ensure your blog stands out among the rest. You have advertisements on blogs, so one can write and earn money at the same time. And mobile blogging, and it seems as if there is nothing left to revolutionize it any more.
What's the future of blogging then? Googling doesn't find any answer to the question, and perhaps we would never know. Creation of blogs is still high, as much as its demise. True that there are a lot of blogs doesn't mean a lot of people still blog, since some simply stop blogging. Then again, there are some who own more than one blog.
Will blogging hit the ceiling and fade away, like the burst of the dotcom bubble? Surely not, since it caters to a need inside each of us - the need to be heard. It gives us a voice, and most of us don't bite the hand that feeds us. Perhaps there will be two distinct types of blogs in the future. One which is public and allows us to express our views, opinions on any subject, openly and without discrimination. The other would be that which is highly secure, and hack-resistant. The latter blog allows us to reveal our deepest secrets to ourselves. It allows us to pen down our thoughts crucial to our emotional life, and answers the questions we post.
What do you think? Will blogging decline steadily or simply remain constant till the internet gets overcrowded?
