In the past, there were different forms of digital communities, the most prominent of which were the “threads,” or messages that dwell on a particular topic. These threads were created by Internet forum software. Earlier, in the younger days of the Internet, Usenet allowed users to join discussion forums through the Moderated Newsgroup. Nowadays, people create online communities by blogging.

The concept of blogging was derived from the diary. People who wrote blogs were then known as journalists (from the word “journal”) and diarists. The diaries or journals allowed people to share personal stories to millions around the world. Two of the earliest bloggers, who both began in the 90s, were Jerry Pournelle and Justin Hall. Hall started his Justin’s Home Page in 1994, while he was still a student at Swarthmore College.

At that time, some journalists employed semi-automated blogging, a journal that combined text with live video. These online diaries were basically used for legal purposes. An example of this 1994′s Wearable Wireless Webcam.

Other forms of journal or blog came out in 1997; Scripting News was launched in April and Slashdot News for Nerds began in September of that year. Towards the end of 1997, in December, Jorn Barger, Robot Wisdom editor and blogger, came up with the term weblog. It was eventually shortened into blog by Peter Merholz in 1999. Read the rest of this entry »