Weblogs (or blogs) have been around for more than 15 years, although you probably wouldn't have recognized them as such back in the early '90s. During those initial days, the sharing of your thoughts and opinions took on various forms, a lot of which appeared very similar to discussion threads, although in a clunkier format. This was mainly because the technology and infrastructure hadn't caught up.

In fact, it wasn't until the end of 1997 that the term “weblog” was first coined. Then, 2 years later, the shortened version “blog” was first used by Peter Merholz, founding partner and president of Adaptive Path, who jokingly broke the word “weblog” into the phrase “we blog” in the sidebar of his own blog, www.Peterme.com.

As you can imagine, the first main use of blogging, which continues as a major category of blogs today, is to share personal thoughts and information online. Unlike the book diaries of old, with the little lock wrapped around the side to prevent prying eyes from unacceptable access, the purpose of personal blogging isn't to keep your musings a secret, but to share your innermost thoughts with everyone.