By Adrianne George

When Tim Berners-Lee invented the web over 10 years ago, he was the first one to create a blog (http://www.w3.org/History/19921103-hypertext/hypertext/WWW/News/9201.html). Who could have envisioned they would become so popular?

The Internet has not only changed the way we correspond in our personal relationships, it has also changed the way we select products and services. Through the power of the blog, viral emails, and SMS campaigns, one determined detractor can become much worse than an unsatisfied customer. Even employees can turn against you as Microsoft (http://minimsft.blogspot.com/) learned.

The Early Days

Now over 10 years later blogs are as common place as mobile phones. In the early days bloggers were considered to be little more than people with too much time on hands. In the late-1990s, people like Cameron Barrett (http://www.camworld.com/about/) and Jesse Garrett (http://www.jjg.net/about/) began compiling links to other sites like their own. A 1999 technology article in Salon (http://www.salon.com/tech/col/rose/1999/05/28/weblogs/index.html) reports that serious journalists looked down on bloggers who considered themselves journalists.

Nowadays

Now journalists’ (http://www.blogcatalog.com/directory/news_media/journalists) blogs are among the most popular as the public searches for news from alternative sources. Businesses are also using blogs as part of their marketing and communications efforts. A Red Herring article looks at this trend, while Business Week magazine practices blogspotting (http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/blogspotting/) and describes this as the world where business, blogs, and media collide.

When Blogs and Personal Lives Collide

Jessica Cutler (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54736-2004Aug10.html) was just another poorly paid worker on Capital Hill when the discovery of her blog by her bosses cost her, her job, and launched her publishing career. Other young adults, as well as teenagers (http://edition.cnn.com/2005/TECH/internet/07/11/tell.all.blogs.ap/index.html) have also felt the highs and lows of blogging.

Personal Public Relations

From management gurus like Tom Peters (http://www.tompeters.com/) to marketing specialists like Seth Godin (http://sethgodin.typepad.com/), bloggers can cement their professional reputations in the competitive world of business consulting.

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