In 1985 The WELL, a dial-up discussion board based on the utilization of desktop computer technology, invited popular participation in one of the first examples of what would eventually evolve into the "blog"- an interactive website allowing reaction comments to initial statements, and now providing the primary Internet means for dialogue. The WELL began with the phrase: "You own your own words." Though almost everything else about online discussion has changed in the two decades since, those words still describe its central premise, and this basic idea underlies both the power and the popularity of blogging today. Appropriately enough, it also describes American journalism as it existed a century and a half before The WELL was organized, before the concept of popular involvement in the press was nearly swept away on the rising tide of commercial and professional journalism. In this book, which is the first to provide readers with a cultural/historical account of the blog, as well as the first to analyze the different aspects of this growing phenomenon in terms of its past, Aaron Barlow provides lay readers with a thorough history and analysis of a truly democratic technology that is becoming more important to our lives every day. The current popularity of political blogs can be traced back to currents in American culture apparent even at the time of the Revolution. At that time there was no distinct commercial and professional press; the newspapers, then, provided a much more direct outlet for the voices of the people. In the nineteenth century, as the press became more commercial, it moved away from its direct involvement with politics, taking on an "observer" stance--removing itself from the people, as well as from politics. In the twentieth century, the press became increasingly professional, removing itself once more from the general populace. Americans, however, still longed to voice their opinions with the freedom that the press had once provided. Today, blogs are providing the means for doing just that.

The growing importance of online political weblogs, collectively known as the "blogosphere," has been characterized by many as a fundamentally new development in the American journalistic landscape. But for Barlow (English, New York City College of Technology), the blogosphere is in many ways a regression back to the early American popular press, which allowed a multiplicity of voices and opinions and helped stimulate democratic debate. Over the years, the commercialization, consolidation, and professionalization of American public journalism provided fewer and fewer venues for popular opinion and for discussion of issues the professional media considered unimportant. It is the promise of blogs to renew the abandoned practice of citizen journalism, and not some magic technological newness, that have led to the rapid explosion of the blogosphere. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

"With The Rise of the Blogosphere, Aaron Barlow provides readers with an insightful, eye-opening exploration of the historic practices and cultural forces that have resulted in the current (and likely future) popularity of blogs as an appealing alternative to the offerings of mainstream commercial and professional news organizations. His research focuses much-needed attention on the backgrounds of political blogs and the essential roles they play in the ongoing movement toward citizen journalism, with its goal of addressing the noteworthy weaknesses of other media offerings in an increasingly complex and technologically advanced world. Barlow's impressive text appears destined to serve as an essential scholarly resource for many years to come." - Kylo-Patrick R. Hart, Ph.D. Chair, Department of Communication and Media Studies Plymouth State University

The growing importance of online political weblogs, collectively known as the "blogosphere," has been characterized by many as a fundamentally new development in the American journalistic landscape. But for Barlow, the blogosphere is in many ways a regression back to the early American popular press, which allowed a multiplicity of voices and opinions and helped stimulate democratic debate. Over the years, the commercialization, consolidation, and professionalization of American public journalism provided fewer and fewer venues for popular opinion and for discussion of issues the professional media considered unimportant. It is the promise of blogs to renew the abandoned practice of citizen journalism, and not some magic technological newness, that have led to the rapid explosion of the blogosphere.Reference and Research Book News

"The Rise of the Blogosphere provides a new lens through which to view American history and gives context to the modern phenomenon of blogging. Barlow is right to point out that blogging didn't just come about from a new technology. He shows the deep tradition of blogging and follows its role in the formation of America, its downfall through the corporatization of the media, and its eventual rise through the Internet." - David Cohn, Principal of New Assignment, an online project designed to combine citizen journalism and professional journalism

[B]arlow here examines blogs--interactive Web journals through which users share information and opinions. His perspective is that of both an academic researcher and longtime blogger. He looks at blogs in the historical context of the American press, the tradition of alternative journalism, and the position of mainstream media, citing blogs as evidence of the increasing power of citizen journalism. He discusses the social, political, and technological contexts that led to the current popularity of blogging. Complete with chapter notes, a selected bibliography, and a thorough index, this accessible book will be of particular value to those interested in contemporary mass communications, journalism, and media studies. Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty.Choice

This work, the first book-length investigation of blogging, gives contemporary readers a chance to understand blogging within the context of American political activism and journalistic history.

In 1985 The WELL, a dial-up discussion board, began with the phrase: "You own your own words." Though almost everything else about online discussion has changed in the two decades since, those words still describe its central premise, and this basic idea underlies both the power and the popularity of blogging today. Appropriately enough, it also describes American journalism as it existed a century and a half before The WELL was organized, before the concept of popular involvement in the press was nearly swept away on the rising tide of commercial and professional journalism. In this book, which is the first to provide readers with a cultural/historical account of the blog, as well as the first to analyze the different aspects of this growing phenomenon in terms of its past, Aaron Barlow provides lay readers with a thorough history and analysis of a truly democratic technology that is becoming more important to our lives every day.

AARON BARLOW is Assistant Professor of English at New York City College of Technology of the City University of New York. He has been involved with blogs since he subscribed to the WELL in the early 1990s, and now continues writing and participating in Web discussions as part of the coordinating group for ePluribus Media, an Internet-based "citizen journalist" group that has grown out of the blogs. Praeger published his earlier book, The DVD Revolution: Movies, Culture, and Technology, in 2005.