Blogging in the 2000s
Blogging in the 2000s marked a significant evolution from its origins as an online diary into a vital communication platform utilized across various sectors, including business, politics, and media. Initially rooted in the late 1990s as "weblogs," the medium grew rapidly, facilitated by user-friendly platforms like Blogger and Tumblr, allowing anyone with internet access to share their thoughts and ideas. By the mid-2000s, thousands of new blogs were being launched daily, with many bloggers emerging as influential voices in political discourse and cultural commentary, often challenging mainstream narratives and providing alternative perspectives on current events.
Notable instances include the impact of blogs like Talking Point Memo, which broke major stories that were later picked up by traditional media, and the Drudge Report, which garnered national attention for its coverage of political scandals. As news organizations began incorporating blogs into their own platforms, they transformed into spaces for interactive dialogue and real-time updates, further solidifying blogging's role in news dissemination. The introduction of microblogging through Twitter in 2006 added a new dimension, enabling shorter, rapid updates and broader engagement with audiences.
While blogging has empowered many and created new avenues for self-expression, it has also raised concerns regarding issues like copyright infringement and the credibility of information. Despite these challenges, blogging has proven to be a resilient medium, adapting alongside technological advancements and maintaining its relevance in contemporary communication.
Subject Terms
Blogging in the 2000s
The regular posting of opinions, observations, videos, links, images, or other content on a web-based log, or blog
Blogging has come a long way since its beginnings in the 1990s. What was once used mainly as an online diary for people to express their thoughts and feelings evolved into a multipurpose communication tool used for recreation, business, and news. With the expansion of web accessibility throughout the 2000s, blogging has become the primary Internet publishing channel for the masses and has been increasingly adopted by businesses, news outlets, politicians, and advocacy groups.
The term “blog” evolved from the word “weblog,” which was first used in the late 1990s to describe the logging of web links a person had visited while browsing the Internet. Before the blogging environment existed, many people logged stories of their personal lives in online diaries. From these online diaries the art of blogging was born. Blogging was initially limited to those with at least some technological skill. Websites such as Blogger, LiveJournal, and Tumblr soon enabled anyone with an Internet connection to create and maintain a blog. In October 2004, blog tracker Dave Sifry estimated that approximately twelve thousand new blogs were being created each day. Many types of blogs have developed since the early 2000s. Corporations began using blogs for marketing and public relations. Politicians, think tanks, and nonprofits use blogs to spread their political views.
With the advent of self-starter blogging tools, the number of bloggers rapidly swelled. Blogs were soon regarded as an important medium in self-publishing and user-generated content. The personal nature and tone of blog entries was considered a primary factor in their increased popularity. The function of blogs quickly extended beyond purely personal use. Many used the space to call attention to various news reports and other world events. As an alternative to traditional news outlets, some blogs became sources of cultural commentary. Blogging soon became recognized for its ability to disseminate information on a much wider basis. Bloggers garnered credibility early in the decade when users began employing blogs to challenge the status quo or to cover stories that had been ignored by the mainstream press. Many bloggers paid particular attention to political affairs. The collaborative approach of such blogs gave readers a broader dialogue than regular news media, and blogs became influential agents for news-gathering.
Blogging the News
In December 2002, the blog Talking Point Memos (TPM), founded by Josh Marshall, posted running criticisms of then Senate majority leader Trent Lott, who had stated that America would have been better off had Senator Strom Thurmond’s segregationist 1948 presidential campaign succeeded. The blog was the first to contribute substantial coverage to the incident, with major media organizations picking up the story only after the news was made public by TPM. As a result of TPM’s coverage, Lott was forced to step down from his leadership position.
Blogs continued to impact the political world in ways that regular news reporting could not. Because bloggers had the capability to discuss the stories via the blog’s commenting section, users could debate and analyze news. Such interactive analyses led to what is known as the Rathergate scandal. Blogs including Power Line questioned the authenticity of military documents presented by news anchor Dan Rather on 60 Minutes in 2004. Based on these documents, Rather had reported that President George W. Bush may have received special treatment while in the military. When the documents turned out to be forgeries, Rather’s reputation as a journalist was severely damaged.
Blogger Matt Drudge’s Drudge Report significantly contributed to the coverage of a Washington scandal in the late 1990s. His reporting on President Bill Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky on the Drudge Report received national attention, largely for the information he divulged. Mainstream media commentators cited his blog as their source for information, and as a result, the Drudge Report became one of the first nationally known news blogs. When Drudge was named to Time magazine’s list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2006, the magazine noted Drudge’s significance as an inspiration—many people were motivated to begin blogging about the news due to his success.
Blogging Enters the Mainstream
In time, major news organizations’ websites soon hosted blog sections where writers and readers could interact over breaking news. Media outlets such as the Huffington Post, the New York Times, MSNBC, and CNN all started blogs dedicated to various topics. In 2009, the Washington Post introduced its Wonkblog under the management of Ezra Klein and Melissa Bell; the blog dealt primarily with economic issues and domestic policy. Klein and Bell helped to introduce a new journalism work flow to the Washington Post, one that was better adapted to the fast-paced demands of digital media. By 2013, the Wonkblog was drawing more than four million monthly views and earning as much as ten million monthly page views during peak months. The Wonkblog's popularity established the blog as a significant revenue source for the Washington Post during a period of dwindling print subscriptions. Blogging has played an important role in changing global news coverage. Live updates and behind-the-scenes coverage are more accessible than ever as people use blogs to spread their stories.
As blogging became increasingly common among Internet users, businesses began using it for commercial means. Corporations, recognizing the potential to expand their customer bases, began promoting their products on popular blog-hosting sites. Businesses created company-sponsored blogs for public relations, building trust with consumers, and obtaining feedback about products.
Microblogging became a popular form of blogging with the launch of Twitter in July 2006. Microblogging involves much shorter postings of a few hundred characters that provide brief updates to blog readers. Users could also post links to other web content, including pictures and videos. News outlets have integrated Twitter posts into their reporting, often promoting particular "hashtags" to encourage viewer commentary on particular issues that they then share on air.
Impact
Blogging has had a tremendous effect on public discourse and the way news is circulated. Many bloggers have gained large followings and generated significant revenue from their blogs, and some have even published books or crossed over into other media. Advances in computer technology have allowed bloggers to go beyond the written word and create video blogs. Numerous celebrities, corporations, and public figures gained large followings—often millions of fans—through Twitter. Following the 2008 presidential election, Barack Obama’s campaign was credited with reaching young voters through Twitter and other social-media initiatives.
Though some observers are concerned that the growing popularity of social networking websites will undermine the use of blogs, others consider blogging its own form of social networking and have confidence in its resilience. Bigger concerns involve the issues of copyright infringement, and there is discussion as to how much trust should be placed in bloggers as credible news outlets. Several bloggers have been accused of defamation, and some have been criminally charged; others have been the targets of threatening cyberbullying campaigns. In 2007, a bloggers’ code of conduct was proposed in response to such concerns.
Bibliography
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