- In 1997, Jorn Barger coined the term "weblog" to indicate a page where a person would list his favorite URLs.
- In 1993, Netscape began cataloging new websites added to the Internet, and in 1997, John Barger dubbed those catalogs "weblogs." Five years later, Peter Merholz decided he would call his weblog a "wee-blog," which evolved into "blog." In 1999, the website Blogger.com was created as a hub for virtually anyone to create his own blog.
- Originally intended to make the Web more "transparent," according to Barger, by linking an Internet audience to someone's preferred list of sites, blogs have evolved into sites that provide more personal information, akin to an online diary or journal.
- Though users still catalog interesting links in their blogs, they also utilize blogs as a bucket for their own art, writing, photographs and music to be viewed and analyzed by others.
- Blogs have become an incredibly popular way to spread media, original thought and favorite Internet sites to a wide variety of people at any time, and some popular bloggers are paid by advertisers to promote their products and services.
