How has digitalization shaped blogging over the last few years?
Blogging is one of the few aspects of mass media still waxing strong in the digital age. It has grown and evolved since the days of a moderated newsgroup. The term “blogging” originated from an infamous but now defunct forum called mod.ber — a denomination of the message board mold that broke away to post discussion summaries collected from Usenet. But it wasn’t for another decade that blogging (coined from Weblog) came to be known as a refined form of updating the content of an online journal.
From the moment blogging caught on, it has continued to grow, exploding into popular and niche phrases. Every aspect of our lives has a dedicated blog, from business to finance to entertainment to sports to gaming to igaming. For example, who would have thought a casino blog would be a thing in the future? That you could search for a casino and read reviews and research on the outfit, whether online or physical, from other players and critics. We were still dazzled by the transition of casinos into the online space, so finding a system as put-together as casino blogging would have been mind-blowing.
These changes largely stem from the impact of digitalization, which has helped blogging stay relevant, accessible, and diversified without losing its essence.
Blogging and the Dawn of Digitalization
The internet has been at the forefront of digitalization, despite being a product of digitalization itself. When the internet was born, it was merely a research project by the U.S. government and some university professors. But it quickly outgrew its humble beginning, morphing into the most cutting edge technology available today.
Many factors aided the quick rise to fame of the internet, including the creation of web browsers and the World Wide Web. Infrastructure improvements, the design of internet-enabled devices, and faster connection speed further aided this growth. However, as necessary as these factors were to the formation of the internet, the massive shift in how society is run could not have been possible if people didn’t see the need to be a part of the internet and ingrain it into their personal lives.
Initially, the internet was a gateway for academics to connect via computers and share research findings remotely. So, for many people outside of academia and not interested in academic research, the internet might as well not exist because it didn’t impact their lives.
Enter blogging
Blogging was the level ground that made the internet relatable and relevant to all. Because we are all content consumers, and blogs didn’t just absorb and regurgitate the same content found on print media, TV, or radio. No. They contained unique elements you couldn’t find anywhere else—making them more appealing to the average person. In addition, the fact that anyone could contribute to a blog kick-started the process of online voices unregulated by the government, publishing houses, universities, or news bodies.
Present-day Blogging
While blogging contributed to the progress of the internet in the early days, digitalization is the sole reason blogging still exists today. Other forms of mass media around the age of blogging have taken massive hits in recent years, including print media, TV, radio, etcetera. Print media (newspapers, magazines, pamphlets) is considered bulky and has become unpopular compared to digital media. People are cutting the cord and moving to subscription services that allow them complete control of what, how, and when they consume content.
On the other hand, blogging has evolved under digitalization into several forms that complement the different types of content consumers. Here are a few examples of present-day blogging
Business Blogs
In this age of digitalization, where anything that fails to evolve will be left behind, businesses are constantly pushing to stay relevant. The popularity of blogging hasn’t gone unnoticed in the industry. There are so many business blogs, as each outfit looks to create a leveled ground for reaching out to consumers, providing customer service, and building a reputable image.
Microblogging
During the earliest era of blogging, there were no limits to how many words a blog post could contain. Readers were there for the gist regardless of how long it got. So, blogs were similar to long-form prose, and no one minded. But things don’t stay the same forever; hence, the creation of microblogging.
The concept remains the same: people share their ideas, thoughts, and takes with an online community, who comment and react to them. The only difference is that microblogging focuses on shorter, easy to read content, case in point, Twitter.
News Blogging
The freedom blogging offered at the start meant that anyone could share their opinions on any subject unchecked. This freedom made it a platform for unverified news, with recognized mass media a more reputable source. However, the narrative changed as the line between blogging, journalism and news casting has shrunk over the years. For instance, the Huffington Post is now a reputable news network recognized in the United States, despite starting as a blog.
Video Blogging (Vlogging)
During the early 2000s, blogging took another route with video content. Video blogs were not so different from blogs with written content, with the only difference being that videos were used in place of text. This variation of blogging soon caught on, kick-starting vlogging, one of the most successful products of blogging.
