Why are weblogs so popular?

Before discussing possible weblog metaphors I think it is important to briefly provide a historical context of the weblog phenomenon. Weblogs are referred to as a recent technology... because they have suddenly become very visible, and gone mainstream. However the first weblog appeared in 1997, in Robot Wisdom, an online magazine which used it for 'logging the web'. Since 2003 weblogs have exploded into view, a giant technological snowball, doubling in number every 5 months, one weblog created per second. Today there are 16.3 million, with approximately 80,000 more being added each day. Furthermore, two-thirds of those weblogs are still being updated 3 months later (Technorati ref). We are now seeing our third generation of bloggers: the first being Geeks, the second Extroverts, and the third are the Mainstream users (Hamish ref). Weblogs, and blogging, have become mainstream. In this we have undeniable confirmation that despite the confusion about What is a weblog for? people have found a use for them. A large number of people... people who continue to use them.

In light of this explosion of popularity we are prompted to question Why are weblogs so popular? and Why is blogging so popular? The underpinning WYSIWYG technology is regarded as the overarching reason for weblogs' success. And the cultural shift, from private to public, is believed to explain the unprecedented adoption of blogging. So, weblogs are social a software, they enable personal publishing... and they persist. Persistence is the final ingredient required to describe the weblog phenomenon. Persistence is the enticement the private needs to go public... or become social.

[tag: context]