My encounter with Mrs. Simon taught me that nobody’s too old for  anything. This is the same with blogging. While the blogosphere is dominated by techies and college students who grew up at the peak of the so-called Internet revolution, there are the members of the so-called baby boomer generation who have not been left behind in the blogging trend. These bloggers in their late forties and fifties (sixties even) constitute a sober presence in a field dominated by eighteeners and twenty-somethings. But what they lack in numbers, they surely make up for in terms of substance. The seniors may not blog about the latest trends in fashion and rock music but it is worth reading them just the same for their introspective views on life,  family and friendship.

I’ve been fortunate enough to befriend two kind-hearted “seniors” in cyberspace. One is Tatang Rome, a 53-year old accountant in Northridge, California who can be found at http://touchingthesoul.blogspot.com. There is nothing pretentious about Tatang’s blog but one can certainly find inspiration in his posts which often deal with prayer, communing with God and other spiritual stuff.

Tatang started blogging only in November of last year, partly encouraged by another US-based blogger Cathy  whom he met in AOL.

“I find blogging amazing because of the distance with which you can get your message across and the many good people of different creed and beliefs that you meet,” he says.

In nearby Singapore, we also came across a proud grandmom who blogs in the person of Luchie Gongora. Her site at www.luchie.pinayexpat.com is replete with tales about being a teacher, wife and mother. One will also be enthralled with the beautiful children’s stories she specially wrote for her twin granddaughters.

Like Tatang Rome,Luchie  started blogging only in November of last year and was introduced to www.blogger.com  by her daughter. Just recently, she transferred to the Pinayexpat community upon the invitation of Germany-based Pinay blogger Melissa and it is here where she is now learning the joys and intricacies of Wordpress.

It can be said that knowing how to blog is a natural consequence for Luchie in high-tech Singapore where, she reveals, “even a primary 3 student has a blog.” The 47-year old groovy grandma  also considers it a milestone to have been chosen as one of the 10 contestants from among 800 applicants in the Test Drive A Mac contest which was concluded recently in the island-state where she lives.

Asked to reflect on the good things that blogging has brought her, Luchie states: “Since I started blogging, I found new friends from all over the globe. It made me realize that there are many talented Filipinos scattered all over the world. It is a virtual country of talented citizens but all are very Filipino at heart.”

“ I can say at this point in time that blogging is a form of art. There is beauty in every printed word I read from others and in the entries I post in my blogs – all a labor of love and artistry. Having your feelings and ideas seen in printed words, though electronic, is a fulfillment in itself,” Luchie concludes.

(Do you know of any other baby-boomer bloggers? Who do you think is the oldest, most tech-savvy Pinoy blogger? Email me at annalyn.jusay@gmail.com)

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STRAIGHT FROM THE INBOX. 

Thanks to Technews readers who sent me emails since Blog-O-Rama was born. I hope I have answered some of your questions and that you will be interested to blog as a result. I also received quite a few feedback about my previous article on “How Blogging Started in the Philippines” and are reprinting here a few for the interest of our readers:

From John Paul Aclan :  Good day to you ma’am. I have read your article on the online edition of the Manila Bulletin entitled "Blog-o-rama". Well, to tell you frankly, blogging is already very big in the Philippines. There are a lot of bloggers from different regions already. There are famous bloggers but the difference with the foreign blogs is that they are too congested.Have you heard of the blogsite http://www.i.ph? Well, bloggers around the world have discovered it and Filipinos not only here in the Philippines but also around the world namely the OFW's. They are starting to blog and they are using this tool to communicate with their loved ones. Just imagine being able to put pictures and videos and other stuff on your blogsite. You can even be reached through SMS or VOIP using your blog. These are just certain innovations that have been created on blogs.Filipinos have already caught up with the concept and they are already using it for many purposes. Check out my blog, I use it to post news and my perspective on any issue.(www.johnpaulaclan.i.ph)

From Jose Illenberger: I read your article about Philippine blog history...I am confused how you can believe someone claiming to have started a blog in 1996 when pyra itself started with Blogger only sometime in the year 1999. She predates Blogger by 3 years! LOL. joke. I know the word "blog" is the term they use to mean "Online Journals" but if that’s exactly what you mean then I guess mali yung title ng article mo. =)

(We deemed it proper to forward Jose’s email to Ateneo student Lauren Dado, otherwise known as the first person to blog in the Philippines, and here is Lauren’s reply:…. )

From Lauren Dado: I made it clear that the term "blog" wasn't used in 1996 but times have changed. My online journal in 1996 is now called a blog. Even my content has evolved. I never came forward and claimed to have started a blog in 1996. I believe someone else told you that I started an online journal in 1996. And you just contacted me.

This online journal evolved to a blog.  People who have been online for a long time know I've had this online journal in 1996 and we bloggers know each other.

Semantics change. Blogs used to be called weblogs in September 1999 (http://www.robotwisdom.com/weblogs/). Online journals used to be separate from blogs during those days (http://www.diarist.net/guide/blogjournal.shtml). My online journal had the same format as today's blog . I shifted from manual coding to content management system. Things are never constant in the internet.

If you look at http://www.robotwisdom.com/weblogs/, the author says that the first blog was started in 1993 (http://archive.ncsa.uiuc.edu/SDG/Software/Mosaic/Docs/old-whats-new/whats-new-0693.html)

What was the first weblog?

Mosaic's What's New page was started by Marc Andreesen, I think.

Justin Hall's Links from the Underground was one early prototype [history].

William Gibson foresaw professional weblogging in 1996:

Pretty soon I think there'll be people who make a living pre-surfing it for you. There's a real need for that Dave Winer's Scripting News formalised many characteristics in 1997 by building them into the Frontier scripting environment (at that time freeware), in its 'Newspage suite'.

Robot Wisdom Weblog was the first to use the name 'weblog', in December 1997."

Based on that url http://www.robotwisdom.com/weblogs/, your title isn't wrong at all. You investigated even online journals dating back to 1996. Great job! It doesn't matter if this person believes me or not. My fellow bloggers know the history.

Thanks for the great article.

From Manuel Viloria:  It appears that my wife’s earliest blog entry was September 1996. I posted about it at http://www.viloria.com/secondthoughts/archives/00000640.html

Thanks for informing us, Manuel. That makes your wife’s entry older than Lauren’s December 1996 post. Are we going to start another debate here?

Keep posted. Blog away!