Jun 14 2007 11:19AM GMT
Posted by: Alexander Howard
Web 2.0,
Technology,
new media,
Internet,
podcasting,
blog,
commentary,
culture,
social publishing,
social,
interactive media,
information,
trend,
blogging,
RSS
In honor of International Weblog Day today, the Word of the Day from WhatIs.com is Pepys’ diary. A weblog, put most simply, is a series of entries arranged in reverse chronological order on a Web page. The term itself is related to Web log, a shortened form of Web server log or access log, the list of all the requests for individual files that people have requested from a Web site.
To learn more about the history of weblogging, make sure to review Rebecca Blood’s excellent essay exploring the origins and early forays into the form and Wikipedia’s entry for blog, which has a timeline of the evolution of the form.
Now, of course, weblogging, or its far more common synonym, blogging, is an international occupation shared by tens of millions. In fact, these days more blogs are in Chinese and Japanese than in English, reflecting the shifting demographics online. Language, of course, isn’t the only way that blogs are now differentiated.
There are photoblogs, videoblogs, podcast blogs for syndication, kittyblogs, moblogs updated from cell phones and laptop-toting coffeehouse workers, anonoblogs that become online phenomena (like PostSecret), CEOblogs (see Jonathan Schwartz) and faux-CEOblogs (like the infamous and hilarious Fake Steve Jobs). Political blogs, of course, dominate the landscape, though sportblogs can incite similar passions (way to go, Curt!), along with milblogs, until recent DoD decisions to curtail that portion of the blogosphere.
The list, in many ways, defies categorization. Of course, we’ve tried anyway. You can find all of WhatIs.com’s favorite technology blogs here. As the weeks go by, look for all of them to show up in our blogroll, categorized according to the focus of the blogger or bloggers.
We also compiled a comprehensive glossary of blogging terms you’ll find online, which we debuted last year. We add to our “bloglossary” every now and again, especially when you write in to let us know about new or missing terms.
While most of the more than 71 million blogs that Technorati is currently tracking are personal, as the various blogging platforms have matured and become both easier and more professionally rewarding, technology professionals have entered the blogosphere seriously.
These days, you can read about what’s happening with wikis from Ross, online video with Jeremy, SEO with Matt, fine hypertext products from Jason, tech PR from Steve, productivity from Merlin, marketing from Seth, Web 2.O from Mike, storage from Jon, security from Bruce, a little bit of everything from Scoble and, of course, endless wonderful things from Xeni, Cory, John, Mark and David.
For a list of many other blogs that focus on data centers, storage, enterprise Linux, Oracle, security, the channel, interoperability, virtualization, SAP, VoIP and other topics of interest to IT professionals, make sure to visit our complete list of tech blogs.
In a world where a poorly-sourced post on Engadget can move Apple’s stock down $4 billion dollars in an episode instantly dubbed “Applegate,” books about the power of the “new influencers” are well worth reading. While the stock recovered, the highest traffic blogs now share mindspace with the Web sites of major mainstream media outlets like the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and CNN, with no signs of that influence disappearing anytime soon, save perhaps behind the “Great Firewall of China.”
With that thought, I can’t help but wonder what flavor of blogger are you? Do you blog at all? Do you have any favorite tech bloggers that you just can’t miss, even for a day? Which blogs (like, say, Lifehacker) help you do your job more efficiently or easily?
Whether you’re new to technology, a technological maven or just an unrepentant blogaholic, we always love hear from you. Happy surfing!
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