In 1994, a young American student named Justin Hall began publishing details of his relationships on an Internet website. That slightly exhibitionist exercise has since turned into an Internet milestone, for it is widely recognised as the first blog — or weblog — in the history of mankind.
But 14 years after Hall’s first post, the blog has gone from being just an ‘online diary’ to a tool of professional and personal growth. Job offers, book deals, movie offers and career changes – everything is possible, once you’ve started a blog.
Take Akshay Mahajan. He began his blog as an 18-year-old student, bored with engineering lectures. But his photo-essays and travelogues from around India found a rapt audience on the Internet. A year later, the Daily Telegraph wanted him to freelance for them. Engineering left behind, Mahajan found what he does best — writing and taking pictures. “Without my blog, I’d be an engineering drop-out. Through it, I was able to improve my photography skills and get European newspapers to publish my work,” said Mahajan.