Assignment #2: The history of weblogs

"Your 2nd assigned blog entry begins by reading the essay on the history of “weblogs”/“blogs” at http://www.mikeanderson.biz/docs/blog.history.htm. How does what Ozawa says about the kind of commentary found in weblogs relate to anything you have ever written before?"

Ozwa's article informs the reader of the history of weblogs. Weblogs have been around since the founding of the internet, they are not a recent addition. Ozawa cites a definition of a weblog by Jorn Barger, Weblog Guru, "A weblog. . . is a webpage where a weblogger. . . 'logs' all the other webpages she finds interesting." This is not what I have traditionally found on "Blogger" sites. More commonly found are what Ozawa refers to as Web Journals, an online, public diary, such as this blog entitled "Hi! It's me!". The author utilizes this format to update the reader (whoever it may be) on the comings and goings of her life. This webjournal, not blog by Jorn Barger's definition, does not contain any links to websites that the author felt a desire to share or comment about. There are other sites that specifically host webjournals, such as Live Journal. This site invites the author to post a journal of their daily comings and goings without incorrectly utilizing the term "weblog" or "blog." I regularly read my friends webjournal entries in order to keep up on the comings and goings of those friends I may have otherwise lost contact with by now. An additional type of "blog," utilizing the term loosely, exists with the author utilizing the blog as a method of artistic expression. One specific example is PostSecret. This blog is an ongoing collection of postcards that have been sent anonymously with people's deepest secret written on them. The blog creator scans the postcards and places them as images on this site. This is not a blog in the sense of a log of websites, nor is it a web journal where the author tracks their day to day happenings. Whether you call it a weblog or webjournal, the use of these online postings show the desire people have to utilize the internet in order to share their thoughts, opinions, or daily life with whoever is willing to listen.