Early gatekeeping defined blogging against women’s online journaling to claim seriousness

Evidence

The term “weblog,” coined by Robot Wisdom editor Jorn Barger, originally described technology-focused “filter blogs,” which contained links to external content and were primarily written by men in the technology industry. But “blog” was essentially a new name for online journals or link lists, which had existed on personal homepages for years. Early bloggers like Barger, Justin Hall, and David Winer were active on Usenet, personal homepages, and e-mail newsletters, respectively. Moreover, bloggers constructed their activities in opposition to the mostly female users of online journaling sites like LiveJournal and Diaryland. Feminist technology scholar Susan Herring has argued that this delineation of “weblogs” as a genre positioned filter blogging, primarily done by men, as a more serious political activity than women’s online writing. — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 107

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the ‘Complaints About Immodesty’ article pattern of classed/gendered labeling of cultural practice, and to broader media studies of how gendered distinctions gatekeep authorship. — connects to: The Internet ended editorial gatekeeping between content producers and audiences — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic…, 147; Early web publishers framed self-expression online as resistance to commercialization — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 92; Denigrating feminine personal journals repeats how real activists dismissed women’s consciousness-raising — Theresa M. Senft, Camgirls: Celebrity and Community in…, 76
• CANDY: ‘Filter blogs were positioned against LiveJournal diary writing as more serious political activity’ is a tweetable genealogy point about why platforms like LJ got a juvenile reputation.
• DEFINE: Clarifies the historical meaning and gendered construction of the term weblog vs. blog.

Broader Connections

• The Internet ended editorial gatekeeping between content producers and audiences #qualifies (0.75) — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 147
• Early web publishers framed self-expression online as resistance to commercialization #expands (0.75) — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 92