Blog

          A blog is an online journal in which individuas or groups can record activities, thought, or beliefs. The term "web log" was coined in 1997 by Jorn Barger to describe his own website. Inc1999, it was conflated to "blog" by Peter Merholz; the word rapidly acquired universal currency.

         The identity of the first blogger is disputed, but among those with claims to the distinction is Tim Berners-Lee, widely credited as the creator of the Internet in 1992. Whatever the truth, by 1997 blogs had proliferated. At the start of 2013, the part of the internet known as the blogosphere contained 2.5 billion sites that are accessed by visitors (a total of 376 million a day) plus an uncounted number of other blogs that are never viewed. The total is growing at the rate of one every second:this is partly due to the increasing number of languages on the internet: the most prolific new entries are blogs in Chinese (Mandarin).

        One reason for the success of blogs is the opportunity they provide for dialogue: online conversations in the form of comments and responses are often emphasised. The most popular blogs are news filters with brief comments and links to their sources. In some cases they have spound "Superblogs"such as The Huffington Post which publishes articles on politics and current affairs. At the other end of the spectrum are blogs that air grievances that the bloggers might hesitate to express via other methods. Some blogs raise revenue through side bar advertisements; most, however are produces without profit for the bloggers own amusement.