How The Blogging World Has Changed

It's barely two decades old, yet it's like as if it's been around forever. I'm talking about the blogging world.  Back in or around 2007, when I stumbled upon blogging, I couldn't believe my eyes. A writer could get a domain in an instant and literally publish their poems and writings in a second. A close relative of mine had started an anonymous blog here on Blogger and had ended up as one of the top bloggers of the UK. She didn't tell me about it, I found out myself. I visited her online and I was fascinated. No, I didn't want to copycat anyone, but as someone who loved to write, I wanted a blog of my own. So I started one. Anonymously, of course. 

A Window on the World*

For me, it really was an early form of social networking. I met fascinating people. Most of them were blogging under pseudonyms. You'd visit the sites of fellow bloggers to catch up. They'd visit you back. Communities evolved. In fact, I was an informal member of several blogging communities. There was a blog by a retired fireman, and one by his sister, a gentle grandmother and cancer survivor. There was a photographer who lived in the wilderness in Canada.  There was an outspoken western woman who had joined a community of neo-Hindus in India and for some reason, she was highly respected in the blogging community. I respected her too to be honest and loved it when she visited and commented on my posts. Until I accidentally sent her a spam email asking her to join me on a social network. In return she literally sent me the most abusive online message I ever hope to get. I was flabbergasted at how horrible it is to be abused online and I literally felt unable to write for ages after that. 

A World Without Borders**

But the truth is, my blogging experiences were mostly positive. I remember receiving a friendly comment from a gentleman named Ramana who resided in Pune in western India. He liked my blog and invited me to visit his blog too. I also got to know his sister Padmini, a gifted writer,and several other international bloggers who were great to know. Sadly, Ramana passed away recently. He became a close personal friend and although we never got to meet in person, we had what I consider to be a real friendship and he was supportive to me during a particularly difficult and trying period of my life. Then Facebook appeared, and Twitter and social media kind of took over. Blogs continued, but the type of blogging I had experienced around the year of 2010 or so seemed to have all but disappeared. Blogging was now a way to make money. There were numerous blogging courses. Blogs were big business now, very professional indeed. 

Having Friends all over the World is Possible***

But I still remember those long ago blogging days of writing just for the joy of it. In fact, I'm nostalgic for it. It didn't matter whether or not you had a personal domain or used a free one. Blogging was about writing and fun and friendship. Everything else was a bonus. Some of those dedicated bloggers are still around. Eventually, I moved into freelance writing and didn't have much time for the social blogging I used to do. But I get nostalgic every so often and try to drop in. I love the tenacity of those dedicated bloggers. They opened up the world to me in a way I'd never experienced before and I'll always remember that.

Many thanks to Mohamed Hassan (*/***) and Gerd Altmann (**) of Pixabay for the images.