The Culture of Blogging
If I was thinking of building influence as a brand or creator today, I’d build my foundations on the strategies of bloggers in the early 2000s. Things to remember about Y2K blogging.
Early blogging seemed like just another hobby the Internet could provide. Short for web-log, the rise of sites like Wordpress and Blogger served as platforms for niche expression and information sharing. By 2009, in fashion and in music (re: hip-hop), blogs were genuinely competing with legacy publications for their share of online influence. In that same year, Dolce & Gabbana seated bloggers with editors in the front row of a runway show (The Cut 2019). Artists like J. Cole, Wiz Khalifa, Wale, Big Sean and Drake looked to blogs over legacy institutions as a push to major label deals. Blogs became a tool for democratization, using new technology and shifting cultural norms to create mechanisms of access into traditionally closed circles. A blogger at a fashion show. An independent rapper. The rise of the influencer.
A bevy of options made possible because of the Internet. By now, the Creator Economy has expanded and platforms have rolled out new features catering to creators specifically. The landscape grows massive with a swell of tools and possibilities. Most creators who participate will rarely come to influence full time. What’s more interesting is that the Internet has also grown in such size that it’s breaking off into smaller, interest-based clusters; the domain of the micro-influencer. It’s exactly the essence of OG blogging.
In 2008 the recession and the cultural shifting from the iPhone sparked a creative, expressive time. Evolutions in technology were disruptive in creating new ways of being and industries. It’s said that AI has the same disruptive potential. Imagination fills the gaps to bridge the future. If I were to borrow from them in the hopes of building influence online today, I would remember that influence belongs to the taste makers.
The parallels between then and now come from specialized content for specific community groups brought to life through various creator tools. Like Substack and the resurgence of “blogs”. The premise is the same, but the platform hosts newsletter subscriptions. Some writers make a living wage from their content and email lists. Taste in this broad sense is a shared lifestyle of interests, like sneakerheads or foodies, where participation reinforces community.
At a time where desire calls for genuine connection, community is a huge sticking point. Brands are an object or sometimes a context. Participation is a status signifier.
The task for building influence is developing strong brand codes for community to latch onto. Then, showing up in those mutual space authentically. Creators see success in offering their own unique perspective in authentic, aspirational contexts. What’s clear is there’s no perfect guidebook.
What matters most is culture. Developing it. Preserving it. Inspired by those early days of blogging, the right mix of taste making and community building is how I’d approach influence in a modern sense. The rest requires some imagination.
