Home One Year On: Part 2

One Year On: Part 2

In my previous post, I wrote about my early blogging efforts in March 2002 and the birth of Read/Write Web just over 1 year ago. In this post I review the past year and pick out some highlights. I’ll finish with some thoughts about what the next year may bring.

Highlights of the past 12 months

April 2003: My inaugural post was titled The Read/Write Web. It outlined the manifesto I’ve promoted ever since then: the Web should be read/write, not read-only.

My third post, RSS – Subscribing to Topics, began my fascination with topic-mapping in blogging. 

May 2003: Web browsers were a hot topic for me during this month – browser/editors (as Tim Berners-Lee originally wanted them to be) and the future of IE.

June 2003: I wrote a series of articles on The Universal Canvas.

July 2003: My first link from an A-List blogger, Clay Shirky, came from this article: Weblogs should be topic-first, not author-first.

Also in July, I coined the phrase Web of Ideas. It conveys a huge part of what the Web means to me – to “discover, create and share ideas”. I later used this as the title of, and modus operandi for, my linkblog. I wrote a follow-up piece: Web of Ideas II.

August 2003: Two of my favourite posts from the past year are art/technology mixes: In XML did Kubla Khan – XML as Literature and The Whiteness of the Whale – the Semantic Web. I enjoyed writing these, as they’re a blend of my Arty background (I’m an English Lit major) and my techy bent. I must write more like this…

Later in August, I wrote up an idea called Microcontent Wiki. It was about how to track a conversation that occurs in the comments on someone else’s weblog.

September 2003: I converted to a CSS-based layout using XHTML.

On 30 September I got my first link from Dave Winer, which was a big deal to me because he’s been a big influence on my read/write philosophy.

October 2003: My post titled Select Mode: Publisher best represents this month for me. There was a “broadcasting vs conversation” meme going around at the time and the point I was trying to make was that I use my weblog first and foremost as a publishing medium.

November 2003: Inspired by Erik Benson, I signed up for Nanowrimo – an annual contest where participants have to write a 50,000-word novel in 30 days. I proceeded to bore my readers witless throughout November with updates from my novel. However, Nanowrimo was a fantastic experience for me. It was bloody hard work, but to actually complete a novel was a big thrill.

December 2003: Apart from recovering from Nanowrimo, I wrote a few posts on weblog ontologies and taxonomies.

January 2004: I came up with a concept called The Fractal Blogosphere. Inspired by Sir Tim Berners-Lee’s Fractal Web theory, it was a proposal for an alternative measurement of blogging to the Power Law. It got quite a bit of coverage in the blogosphere.

February 2004: I got all excited by the possibilites of Information Flow as a kind of bottom-up Knowledge Management.

March 2004: My most successful post yet, an interview with Marc Canter. It got Slashdotted, which caused a big spike in hits. But most importantly, it showed I have what it takes to be an ‘amateur journalist’. Now I’ve just got to work out how to get paid for doing it 馃槈

The Future

Content-wise, I can’t predict what the future of Read/Write Web holds. That’s what makes blogging so exciting! But there may be changes in infrastructure. I’m working on a re-design, with a new CSS layout and possibly a new weblog authoring tool (Movable Type). Stay tuned.

About ReadWrite鈥檚 Editorial Process

The ReadWrite Editorial policy involves closely monitoring the tech industry for major developments, new product launches, AI breakthroughs, video game releases and other newsworthy events. Editors assign relevant stories to staff writers or freelance contributors with expertise in each particular topic area. Before publication, articles go through a rigorous round of editing for accuracy, clarity, and to ensure adherence to ReadWrite's style guidelines.

Get the biggest tech headlines of the day delivered to your inbox

    By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. Unsubscribe anytime.

    Tech News

    Explore the latest in tech with our Tech News. We cut through the noise for concise, relevant updates, keeping you informed about the rapidly evolving tech landscape with curated content that separates signal from noise.

    In-Depth Tech Stories

    Explore tech impact in In-Depth Stories. Narrative data journalism offers comprehensive analyses, revealing stories behind data. Understand industry trends for a deeper perspective on tech's intricate relationships with society.

    Expert Reviews

    Empower decisions with Expert Reviews, merging industry expertise and insightful analysis. Delve into tech intricacies, get the best deals, and stay ahead with our trustworthy guide to navigating the ever-changing tech market.