In August 1998, a traditional news site tried blogging for the first time. Journalist Jonathan Duke "blogged" about Hurricane Bonnie for the Charlotte Observer, but did not use the term himself.
Creating websites was technically complex, so eventually blogging platforms were created that made it easy for users to write about their personal lives and experiences online.
One of the first was The Open Diary, which built an online community by allowing users to comment on each other's posts .
Here is an early screenshot , preserved at the Internet hit post Archive . Note that these early blogs were designed for much lower resolution screens.
The Open Diary 1998
March 1999: RSS makes blog subscription a reality
RSS is an acronym for Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary. First released in March 1999, it is a format for delivering frequently changing web content from websites and other online publishers.
It allows users to follow the updates of their favorite websites without having to visit each website individually. They can read the latest content in an RSS feed reader or in their email.
You can use RSS to grow your blog by following our guide on how to use RSS in WordPress .
In April 1999, developer Peter Merholz added a bit of humor to his website Peterme.com. He split the word “weblog” into two words: “We blog.” This caught on, and the term “ blog ” was born.