Celebrating seven years of blogging
December 15, 2000. That’s when I started blogging. In seven years a lot has happened. The first two years of my blog have disappeared. They might be on a hard drive somewhere, I’m still trying to track them down. Dave Winer first linked to me on December 29th (sent me about 3,000 people, if I remember my stats right).
The term “weblog” is 10 years old on Monday. So lots of blogging birthdays. Jorn Barger, the guy who came up with the name, has some tips for new bloggers to celebrate. It’s good advice and advice I try to listen to. It’s amazing that I was three years behind Jorn but that when I started there was still only a very small community of bloggers (less than 200 that I could find — I did some research since Dori Smith asked me to do a session on blogging at the Internet conference I was helping Dan Shafer plan).
The Internet Archive has some of my posts backed up, but the earliest one they have is from February 2001 and the one they have from 9/11 is totally gone.
When I started I had absolutely no idea I’d have worked at two of the world’s biggest technology companies, at least in part because of my blog (NEC and Microsoft) and that I’d have so many fantastic experiences.
Truth is that this form of communication is still in its infancy. Imagine talking about newspapers just 10 years after they were developed and thinking “this is it, no more to do.” Yeah, right.
2008 is going to bring us live streaming video from our cell phones. What’s beyond that? Who knows, but I’m along for the ride!
Thanks to everyone who has sent me a link, called me an idiot, put up with my questions and laugh, read my posts without saying anything, or just joined me someplace for coffee. There are way too many people who’ve added something to my life to list. Dave Winer certainly is at the head of that list, so I’m glad we got to spend the afternoon together today.
In the past seven years I’ve survived:
1. The bubble bursting.
2. A car wreck.
3. A terrorist attack.
4. A divorce.
5. My grandma dying.
6. My mom dying.
7. A new marriage.
8. Five moves.
9. Five jobs (soon to be six).
10. Three URLS (1 http://scobleizer.manilasites.com 2. http://scoble.weblogs.com 3. http://scobleizer.com ).
11. I don’t know how many social networks I’ve been on (Twitter, Upcoming, Seesmic, Kyte, Flickr, Orkut, MySpace, Google Reader, Facebook, Yelp, Pownce, Jaiku are some of the ones I’m on currently).
12. Successfully getting Patrick into teenage years.
13. Birth of a new son, Milan.
14. Writing a book about corporate blogging with Shel Israel, “Naked Conversations.”
15. A new bubble?
Whew, and that doesn’t include the hundreds of interviews I’ve done (about 500 while at Microsoft and about 300 since then) or all the Google Reader shared items (about 8,000 — UPDATE: I just passed 8,000) or the posts I’ve done (I have no clue).
One regret? I’ve never gone back and read old items I’ve posted other then the few I’ve linked to here. I really should look back a bit more and see what life was like.
Anyway, I hope I’m here with you all seven years from now celebrating Milan’s seventh birthday. I wonder what’s going to happen in the next seven years?
Let’s take that ride together, shall we?
Powered By 
December 16th, 2007 at 12:22 am
Robert, I agree that we are at the beginning of something (not the end). Just got home from the Plaxo holiday party and the energy is high. BIG things coming in 2008 for what will become the “Social Web”.
December 16th, 2007 at 12:35 am
I’ve just hit 6 months with my blog. I’ve enjoyed the learning process and enjoyed the discipline of writing and following a great start-up market. Blogging and bloggers can be annoiying if all they do is bitch, but a blog like scobleizer, GigaOm, TechCrunch, and other are awesome. I follow similar topics with my own insite. I encourage you to subscribe to my RSS and or del.icio.us (mark as favorite using whatever tool you like) my site and comeback often.
http://actionstalk.com
December 16th, 2007 at 12:44 am
What? I’ve been blogging longer than Scoble?
Okay, I feel Internet Old(TM) now.
December 16th, 2007 at 12:59 am
What about the moose??
December 16th, 2007 at 1:04 am
This is kinda weird that I signed up and started using LiveJournal 3 months earlier in September of 2000 (http://shagg.livejournal.com/profile?mode=full). You’ve definitely posted much more than me in that time though. Keep up the posts. :)
December 16th, 2007 at 1:13 am
Seven is a lucky number. Must be even better things on the horizon. Congrats.
December 16th, 2007 at 1:35 am
Congrats, Robert - and continue with the enthusiastic dedication!
December 16th, 2007 at 1:40 am
Congratulations and here’s to many more years. Looking forward to the pics of Patrick’s high school graduation and Milan’s first day of kindergarten.
Oh, and some more posts about cool new things to try, too!
December 16th, 2007 at 1:56 am
Congratulations and that you for all the great content. Looking forward to seeing what you are going to do with 2-way near realtime video!
December 16th, 2007 at 3:19 am
Just: Congratulations.
I haven’t been here that long, kept hearing your name mentioned, finally made the effort to find and stay, and then went through the phase of obsessive checking and then calming down.
Thanks.
for your kindness, openness, wisdom, and more.
Yours kindly,
Shakir
December 16th, 2007 at 4:11 am
Congrats..
Reg. the One regret? I’ve never gone back and read old items I’ve posted other then the few I’ve linked to here. I really should look back a bit more and see what life was like.
Would you like a WordPress plugin which will allow you (the author) to review posts per tag and sequence them in terms of interestingness (What are your recommended ‘blogging’ posts?)
To expand this, would you also prefer if the readers were able to sort according to their preferences.. ?
This would result in every reader being able to see one’s own interesting posts and the community’s
Yes? see http://www.namastenetizen.com/collatodo/wp-sortable/?tag=people
December 16th, 2007 at 4:26 am
Many more than 200. More like 20,000+ about that time, which is when I also started.
It’s just that the lists were hand edited in that time, and the sheet that Metafilter Matt maintained only listed a very small tree. The elite.
Some things never change.
December 16th, 2007 at 4:46 am
Totally…! :)
I started blogging in 2004 (Blogger) .. abandoned it.. coz I felt like I was talking to the walls..
My “resurrection” was on WordPress.. and I came out stronger… Thankfully peoplw trickle in now! ;)
December 16th, 2007 at 5:10 am
Congrats - and thanks from a blogger you continue to inspire.
If there is one request I would like to make is a balance - a little less focus on cool new gadgets and widgets and more of what was your book focus…which is bringing more transparency in to our corporations, politicians etc. You have shared so much of your life with the world…and we persist with marketing and PR control freaks and outright liars in so many aspects of business, professional and political life…
December 16th, 2007 at 5:17 am
cool,hi my names brumm19,i like your site,try my site and tell me if its any good
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December 16th, 2007 at 5:50 am
I have been blogging for five years now. I started when I was laid off by Capgemini. Initially the blog was a log documenting my job search. It was during the last recession in 2002. I never found a job, but I started the first of two successful business, learned how to blog and transform myself into a web worker. My wife and I used to laugh that when I turned 50, I would loose my job, the kids would start college, and we would need a new car. That was exactly what happened! What a ride.
December 16th, 2007 at 5:58 am
[...] was about to leave a comment on Robert Scoble’s blog when he posted that he was celebrating seven years of blogging, and looking back at what had happened in that time. Having blogged for about the same length of [...]
December 16th, 2007 at 6:08 am
What’s with all the lost posts? Your whole text output for seven years would fit on a buck’s worth of floppies. Images and videos need more space, but the material costs would still be in the decadollar range.
Yet you didn’t made and keep local copies? I hope that lesson has been learned.
I notice your disaster list does not include fire. Make that one local copy and one in the Safety Deposit Box.
December 16th, 2007 at 6:50 am
[...] Robert Scoble reflects. He’s probably one of the most influential bloggers I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet. Plus, he’s a classy guy. Those two characteristics in one person is very hard to find. We’re lucky to have him around. Congrats! Posted in Robert Scoble | Trackback | del.icio.us | Top Of Page [...]
December 16th, 2007 at 6:53 am
Didn’t you have 4 URLs? I think you were http://scobleizer.wordpress.com for awhile, too…
December 16th, 2007 at 8:32 am
Congratulations Robert, keep going on ….
December 16th, 2007 at 8:51 am
How time fly’s huh, and how hindsight can make you think “wow, so that’s how I got here” or in my case I just think what might have been.
It’s only really in the last 3 years that I’ve tuned into the bloggersphere but turns out, I pretty much had my own blog running back in 98 but didn’t know what a blog was, I was just venting brain farts on a web page, jjlewis.tripod.co.uk if I remember rightly, long gone when they closed my free account but I know I have a backup on floppy because I packed a stack of them like antiques ready for a house move in January. I really wish I could remember my old ICQ number too..
I wish I’d have connected with so many of the great folks around that are smart, entertaining and love sharing ideas, maybe I could have been one of you cool kids even.. If If If… ;-).. Kind of cool that Hugh over on http://gapingvoid.com has a similarly reflective post too, about how you have to give up on “one day”.
December 16th, 2007 at 8:56 am
Happy anniversary and here’s to many more years. I look forward to reading your post.
Thanks
December 16th, 2007 at 8:57 am
[...] βρίσκω κακό, απλά δεν μου έρχεται. Είδα όμως σήμερα το άρθρο του Robert Scoble με το οποίο γιορτάζει 7 χρόνια ως blogger, και μου ήρθε ο [...]
December 16th, 2007 at 9:41 am
Congrats!
December 16th, 2007 at 9:51 am
Congrats Robert. Kudos. When it comes to blogging, the journey is really the reward. Keep on trucking…
December 16th, 2007 at 10:25 am
Congrats! Robert .. saw your Twit before I read your blog ;-)
December 16th, 2007 at 10:58 am
Congrats to your great and insightful blog!
December 16th, 2007 at 11:09 am
Congratulations! Keep up the prolificness (new word?) Your information keeps so many people on the bleeding edge, we all appreciate it (no matter how often we don’t email you a thank you).
Thank You (see, there’s one:)
December 16th, 2007 at 11:16 am
Congratulations Robert!
An idea: It would be interesting to make some predictions of what will happen in the coming years. Then, on December 2014, we’ll check how good we were on forecasting the future…
December 16th, 2007 at 11:21 am
My sincere congratulations! May your next seven years be even better.
December 16th, 2007 at 11:36 am
Congratulations Robert - life is some journey isn’t it?
December 16th, 2007 at 11:40 am
[...] Happy Anniversary, Robert - I can’t believe it’s been seven years already. It’s fun to be linkblogging with you. [...]
December 16th, 2007 at 11:51 am
[...] Scoble wrote on his blog he has been writing blogs for seven years now, but I would have expected that from him. He is , it seems to this outsider very prolific in all he does. He wrote also about where the term came from,who coined the term, one Jorn Barger, of Robot Wisdom and Mr. S. stated that the advice that Jorn has for those of us who blog is good advice that he himself follows. [...]
December 16th, 2007 at 11:58 am
Posted on this - and it was nice meeting you at LeWeb3 this week - good fortune on the new job - wherever it ends up being (I guess we’ll find out on January 15th, though I get TechCrunch and OmMalik will leak it earlier).
Thanks again,
marshall
December 16th, 2007 at 12:32 pm
congratulations robert! it HAS been a great ride. the future seems so bright. thanks for all your great insights, and for the not great ones too. :>)
it’s a process, and it’s fun.
December 16th, 2007 at 12:52 pm
[...] Robert Scoble has started a fun trip down memory lane for all of us with his post “Celebrating Seven Years of Blogging.” [...]
December 16th, 2007 at 1:06 pm
Congratulations! It will be exciting to see where we go from here! Good Luck!
December 16th, 2007 at 1:09 pm
Hi Robert, Happy next 7 years from Amsterdam Holland!
December 16th, 2007 at 1:25 pm
Congratulations, especially on the sheer quantity (and quality) of the interviews. There’s a lot of value in those alone. Isn’t it a blast to review a lengthy period of time and collectively see everything that you survived and went through just to be where you are today?
December 16th, 2007 at 2:05 pm
[...] was reading Scoble’s post about his 7th year of blogging and some of the issues he’s had locating his old post that have gotten lost for several [...]
December 16th, 2007 at 2:13 pm
Hey Robert,
Congratulations. Your post prompted me to take a look for my old posts from 1997 and it’s funny, but they are still up on some old AOL pages of mine.
http://offonatangent.blogspot.com/2007/12/behind-scenes-blog.html
–Steve
December 16th, 2007 at 2:19 pm
Well done! I started in july, 2005.
December 16th, 2007 at 2:24 pm
” Seven Years of Blogging
In the past seven years I’ve survived:
…
4. A divorce.”
Mmmnn. Wonder if the two are related? ;)
Very true what you say about regretting not going back and looking at old blogs. I did that with a hardcopy journal I used to keep and learned a lot; mostly about how the same themes kept cropping up.
December 16th, 2007 at 2:39 pm
Kubla: they probably are related, actually. Blogging helps you learn yourself better. After 9/11 and my car wreck, though, I decided to live every day like it was my last. That accelerated everything a lot more.
December 16th, 2007 at 4:44 pm
Yay! Happy birthday, scobelizer!! :)
December 16th, 2007 at 5:05 pm
7 years. That’s quite a while.
December 16th, 2007 at 6:09 pm
A long way from the days at Fawcette. No?
Congrats on hanging in there for seven years.
–rj
December 16th, 2007 at 9:31 pm
Seven years is a pretty long time. And when did I just start blogging again? *scratches head* Those seven years of yours, as you have so deftly summarized, have seen a lot of action. It makes me think about how much we don’t know about our future. We can make lots of plans and some of them might push through… But we will never be certain of what really awaits us. Like being involved in two really big companies as you say… Being able to reflect on what has happened is a really grand way of appreciating life.
December 16th, 2007 at 9:56 pm
What makes me thinking is that you survived a lot in 7 years of your life but your blog posts didn’t survive 7 years of technological updates. I think many people have this experience about their digital data. I use computers since the early 80’s and most of my stuff can’t be accessed anymore. As I wrote in my article http://www.indranet.org/technological-updates-and-the-right-to-silence/ my grandmom paper pictures are still there and will be there for a further long time, but I doubt my digital ones will be available to my grandchildren.
December 16th, 2007 at 10:12 pm
Complete congrats…. And of course, the best is yet to come!
Cheers to you and your family,
Betsy
December 16th, 2007 at 10:16 pm
Congrats and respect. You’re a survivor!
December 16th, 2007 at 10:59 pm
Well done and congratulations. Thank you for sharing. It would be interesting to find out what it will be like seven years from now. Where and far the internet progress. Blessings
December 16th, 2007 at 11:12 pm
great read
including the comments
December 17th, 2007 at 3:18 am
[...] Robert Scoble: Celebrating 7 years of blogging. [...]
December 17th, 2007 at 10:01 am
Hi Scobble, Congratulations man. I really the value of experience and a mentor. Could you please take some time out to look at my blog and provide some feedback, how i can improve PR etc. Would really appreciate it.
HOT USA Trends Today TIA.
December 17th, 2007 at 10:24 am
Congratulations Robert! That is quite an accomplishment. I’m in my first year of blogging. Sharing all of those joyous/painful experiences with the world I’m sure has helped many people.
On a funny/coincidental note, I just started a series of posts on my entrepreneurial journey (mixing past and present) and the post title is called The Entrepreneurial 7 Year Itch. http://www.entrepremusings.com/index.php/2007/12/16/the-entrepreneurial-7-year-itch/
So how will you scratch your blogging 7 year itch? :-)
December 17th, 2007 at 2:13 pm
[...] Scobleizer: Celebrating seven years of blogging [...]
December 17th, 2007 at 2:52 pm
[...] Scoble celebrated his seventh year as a blogger this weekend, and I’d like to light a virtual candle for the guy — not for his fame and reputation [...]
December 17th, 2007 at 11:25 pm
Congrats on 7 years of sharing your life and thoughts publicly. I am working with small business owners and professionals like lawyers and helping them use blogs, social media, and local search engines to narrowcast their expertise and build community locally. It will be interesting to see how video impacts social media and blogging in the next few years.
December 18th, 2007 at 4:42 am
Every day there is something here to come back. Thank you for those seven years.
Jay, from Bangalore
December 18th, 2007 at 7:02 am
That was very insightful into your last seven years and going back to the early days of blogging. I think I was just getting an email address sven years ago!
December 18th, 2007 at 9:33 am
Hey Robert,
That was very interesting post.. Congratulations on a new milestone. Just sitting and looking at past really changes how we do things currently and adds a new perspective..
Thanks for the insight :)
Pooran
December 19th, 2007 at 9:15 am
[...] Scoble celebrates entering his eighth year of blogging and says, “when I started I had absolutely no idea I’d have worked at two of the worlds [...]
December 23rd, 2007 at 9:00 am
You have really good experience in it. So tell me: aren’t you shy of telling the truth about your life to strange people around the web?