The Women that Helped Build the Blogging Industry
March 1st marks the first day of Women’s History Month in the United States. With this being said, I thought it could be interesting to do a little writing and research on the history of women in blogging. How did this industry grow into what it is today?
This research took me down quite a few rabbit holes. Ultimately, I do think I grasped a fairly good amount of women who shaped the industry into what it is today.
The History of Blogging
Influencing has been around since the times of Shakespeare, but it was never formalized or glamorized until much later on. Blogging, on the other hand, started in the early 1990s (1993 to be exact), and has since grown into the social sharing development it is today and I am proud to be a part of.
I will list my sources throughout, but the key articles that aided in my search of women in blogging are:
- Blogging.com
- How Blogging Has Evolved (has a great timeline breakdown if you are interested)
- Alejandro Rosa and the History of Blogging
How did blogging begin?
While the first official “blogging” platform was started in 1993, the trend of being a “blogger” didn’t catch on until after the turn of the century.
In the year 2000, a total of 23 known blogs existed on the internet. By 2006, that number had grown to 50 million. Currently, 21 – 35 year olds make up over 53% of the blogging network.
Women of Influence
The ladies listed below are known for the role they played in the development of the blogging industry.
Heather Armstrong – www.dooce.com – In 2002, Heather became the first known person to get fired for writing about her coworkers at her job. This year, her blog just turned 20 years old.
Melinda Roberts – Themommyblog.com– Also in 2002, Melinda started the very first mommy blog. Though she has now retired, she paved a path for the mommy blogging trend. Today, there are over 23 million known mommy blogs.
Lisa Stone – Blogher.com –Lisa , along with a few coworkers, founded Blogher in 2005 in order to create a network for female bloggers in the ever growing field. Today, it has connected millions of women both virtually and in person through their love of writing.
Kristina Bazan – Kayture.com – In 2016, Kristina became the first known blogger to make over a million dollars in a year blogging. She was 22 years old.
