From Justin Hall writing his first-ever blog post back in 1994 to clicking on Reni Eddo-Lodge’s blog in 2021 has a lot changed in blogging? Who even blogs? And what is even the point of it all?

Firstly there are similarities between Hall’s and Eddo-Lodge’s blogging techniques, despite the time gap. The posts are short, there are links at disposal, and opinionated thought-provoking content that is considered essential to the blogger is often the bread and butter of a blog. In light of question number three blog posts are known to hold personal feelings, opinions and ideas that are primarily outlets for individuals to express their hobbies and passions—no wonder why it was such a hit and continues to be. Before the invention of the term ‘blog’ previously, scholars referred to blogs as other titles such as ‘online diaries’ or even ‘personal pages’ to encompass a blog’s purpose. 

To this day, passion and personal tendencies are themes of Eddo-Lodge’s blog, where her number one bestseller ‘Why I am No Longer Talking to White People About Race’ originated. 

Blogging is not just limited to award-winning writers. Early platforms like LiveJournal and Blogger and newer sites such as Squarespace, Wix and WordPress allow people with no coding experience the opportunity to create their blogs and write about their pastimes. I had gone down the rabbit hole of creating numerous blogs and not to mention Justin Hall was just a student writing about his studies when he first delved into blogging. The themes surrounding blogs are extensive as anyone and everyone can contribute to the internet plethora of information from academics to award-winning writers and artists and students. 

Although there are commonalities between Justin Hall and Reni Eddo-Lodge’s blogs, there are also significant differences that allow Eddo-Lodge’s blog to continue in popularity. First of all, images. Compared to Hall’s blog post, which is considerably text-heavy, images are essential to a blog post today. Over the past 26 years of blogging, pictures and blog design have contributed to a blog’s overall success, allowing readers to easily read and engage with posts they find interesting. I’m sure most people don’t have the time to sit and read ‘A la recherche du temps perdu’ and would much rather a short and sweet blog post filled with images or even better a vlog! 

This need for imagery and aesthetically pleasing blog is the outcome of improved technology and accessibility. Particularly as consumers expect more in terms of quality which can become pressurising for bloggers to create. Another key difference is the purpose of creating a blog, although before it was known to be a personal endeavour today, blogs can become lucrative ventures.