Background

• According to New York Magazine, the first blog, Links.net, was created in 1994 by Swarthmore College student Justin Hall. Over the following years, the term "Weblog" was used to describe an online diary that contains the writer's personal thoughts and musings; this was later shortened to "blog." In 1999, the first free blog-publishing service, Blogger, was launched by Pyra Labs, offering neophyte bloggers a tool to design and easily update their own blogs with time-stamped entries. Blogs continued growing in popularity after a high-profile political blog, Talking Points Memo, published racially charged comments made by then-Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, who later resigned his post. In addition, the 2004 national election saw an explosion of advertisements on political blogs. Millions more blogs were created in the following years, largely driven by the growing business opportunity offered.
  
  

Style

• Blogs have a distinct style and voice that sets them apart from traditional methods of journalism. Many blog posts are written in reaction to something: often a major news event or something that recently happened to the blogger. Blogs reveal the personality and emotions of the blogger, and invite comments and reactions from readers that are posted below the article.
  
  

Impact on Journalism

• Felix Salmon, a blogger for Reuters News Service, wrote in March 2011 that blogs have changed traditional journalism by offering a wider range of news sources for readers to choose. Blogs have virtually no space constraints, which means that blog posts can be 5,000 words long, giving bloggers a platform to expand on a subject more deeply. During a major news event, many blogs will report, and react on, updates before they're fully reported in traditional media outlets.
  
  

Blogging for Business

• A major factor in the growth of blogs is the opportunity to make money. Google's AdSense allows bloggers to create advertising programs for products or services that match the content of their blog. Every time a reader clicks on an advertising link on their blog, the blogger is paid a fee. BlogAds connects bloggers with advertisers and receives a commission for every ad placed. Many bloggers also establish affiliate programs in which they recommend products to their readers and receive payments for click-throughs and purchases.
  
  

Top Blogs

• As of the date of publication, tech magazine Technorati gave top honors to the Huffington Post, a progressive news and content-aggregator site that includes dozens of prominent contributors and has about 25 million readers. TechCrunch, covering technology news, was second, and Mashable, covering social media news, ranked third.