Why Note and X Are Unstoppable? A Look at the History of Blogs and SNS!
- Communication shifted from blogs to SNS
- Among blogs, note leads
- Among SNS, X reigns supreme
Introduction
Hello, I’m Easygoing!
Today, I’d like to dive into blogs and SNS, two essential communication tools in our modern world.
A Rundown of Blogs and SNS!
Let’s start with a timeline of blogs and SNS services.
gantt
title Blogs and SNS
dateFormat YYYY-MM-DD
axisFormat %Y
section Global Blogs
Blogger : 1999-08-23, 2025-06-28
WordPress : 2003-05-27, 2025-06-28
Tumblr : 2007-02-19, 2025-06-28
Medium : 2012-08-15, 2025-06-28
Ghost : 2013-10-14, 2025-06-28
Substack : 2017-10-01, 2025-06-28
section Japanese Blogs
Hatena Diary & Hatena Blog : 2003-01-16, 2025-06-28
Seesaa Blog : 2003-10-08, 2025-06-28
Livedoor Blog : 2003-11-01, 2025-06-28
Cocolog : 2003-12-01, 2025-06-28
goo Blog : done, 2004-02-25, 2025-06-28
Ameba Blog : 2004-09-01, 2025-06-28
FC2 Blog : 2004-10-28, 2025-06-28
Yahoo! Blog : done, 2005-07-01, 2019-12-15
Qiita : 2011-09-01, 2025-06-28
note : 2014-04-07, 2025-06-28
LINE Blog : done, 2014-11-01, 2023-06-29
Zenn : 2020-05-12, 2025-06-28
section SNS
Friendster : done, 2002-03-22, 2015-06-14
LinkedIn : 2003-05-05, 2025-06-28
Myspace : 2003-08-01, 2025-06-28
Mixi : 2004-02-01, 2025-06-28
Facebook : 2004-02-04, 2025-06-28
Reddit : 2005-06-23, 2025-06-28
Twitter : done, 2006-07-15, 2023-07-23
X : 2023-07-23, 2025-06-28
Instagram : 2010-10-06, 2025-06-28
Misskey : 2018-04-08, 2025-06-28
Bluesky : 2023-02-01, 2025-06-28
Threads : 2023-07-05, 2025-06-28
Mixi2 : 2024-12-16, 2025-06-28
The left side marks the launch, the right the closure, with gray indicating discontinued services. I’ll highlight some key players from this list.
The Rise of Blogs!
As the internet spread in the 1990s, individuals began popularizing the practice of recording diaries or opinions.
These were initially called weblogs (web logs), but the term soon shortened to blog.
- Weblog: A log or record on the web
- Blog: A shortened form of weblog
Blogger’s Breakthrough!
Back when blogs emerged, launching a website required mastering HTML.
Example of HTML:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html dir='ltr' lang='en'>
<head>
<script>/*<![CDATA[*/function rmurl(e,t){var r=new RegExp(/\?m=0|&m=0|\?m=1|&m=1/g);return r.test(e)&&(e=e.replace(r,""),t&&window.history.replaceState({},document.title,e)),e}const currentUrl=rmurl(location.toString(),!0);null!==localStorage&&"dark"==localStorage.getItem("theme")&&(document.querySelector("html").className="dark-mode");/*]]>*/</script>
<meta content='text/html; charset=UTF-8' http-equiv='Content-Type'/>
<meta content='width=device-width,initial-scale=1' name='viewport'/>
<!-- Primary Meta Tags -->
<link href='https://www.ai-image-journey.com/2025/06/stable-diffusion-webui-comfyui.html' rel='canonical'/>
<meta content='https://www.ai-image-journey.com/2025/06/stable-diffusion-webui-comfyui.html' property='og:url'/>
<meta content='AI Image Journey Team' name='author'/>
<meta content='AI Image Journey' name='application-name'/>
<meta content='general' name='rating'/>
<meta content='index, follow' name='robots'/>
In the late 1990s, a new approach called CMS (Content Management System) gained traction, allowing users to write content in simple English and automatically generate HTML pages.
- HTML: HyperText Markup Language
- CMS: Content Management System
One standout CMS-powered blog service was Blogger.
Launched by Pyra Labs, it was later acquired by Google, sparking a global blogging boom.
Notably, Evan Clark Williams, a Pyra Labs co-founder, later founded Twitter after leaving, shaping today’s web communication culture.
WordPress and the Evolution of CMS
Blogger was a basic CMS tailored for blogs, but improvements continued. In 2003, the open-source project WordPress emerged.
With its plugin system and user-friendly design, WordPress gained widespread support, surpassing Blogger by the late 2000s.
Today, CMS has become the standard for website creation, with WordPress powering 43.4% of all websites and 61.1% of CMS-based sites as of June 2025.
Japan’s Unique Blog Ecosystem
In the early 2000s, Japan saw a surge of blog services.
gantt
title Japanese Blogs
dateFormat YYYY-MM-DD
axisFormat %Y
section Japanese Blogs
Hatena Diary & Hatena Blog : 2003-01-16, 2025-06-28
Seesaa Blog : 2003-10-08, 2025-06-28
Livedoor Blog : 2003-11-01, 2025-06-28
Cocolog : 2003-12-01, 2025-06-28
goo Blog : done, 2004-02-25, 2025-06-28
Ameba Blog : 2004-09-01, 2025-06-28
FC2 Blog : 2004-10-28, 2025-06-28
Yahoo! Blog : done, 2005-07-01, 2019-12-15
Qiita : 2011-09-01, 2025-06-28
note : 2014-04-07, 2025-06-28
LINE Blog : done, 2014-11-01, 2023-06-29
Zenn : 2020-05-12, 2025-06-28
Note: goo blog is set to end in November 2025.
- Hatena Diary: First to launch, transitioned to Hatena Blog in 2011
- Ameba Blog: Popular among celebrities
- Yahoo Blog: Offered unique features like article reprints and polls, ended in 2019
Blogs evolved beyond diaries, integrating with forums to become a communication tool. They also paired well with the rising internet advertising (affiliate marketing), encouraging users to create income-generating sites.
Note: 2006 also marked the launch of Nico Nico Douga.
By Q4 2006, Japanese blog posts outnumbered English ones, making Japan the global leader.
Niche Blog Sites and Note’s Rise
From the 2010s, communication shifted from blogs to SNS. Amid this, niche blog sites using Markdown for SEO strength gained popularity.
gantt
title Markdown-Compatible Blogs
dateFormat YYYY-MM-DD
axisFormat %Y
Qiita : 2011-09-01, 2025-06-28
Hatena Blog : 2011-11-07, 2025-06-28
note : 2014-04-07, 2025-06-28
Zenn : 2020-05-12, 2025-06-28
| Qiita | Hatena Blog | note | Zenn | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| User Count | 1.2 million | Over 3 million | 10 million | Over 100,000 |
| Target Audience | Tech-focused | General | Creators | Tech-focused |
| AI Proofreading | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Revenue Model | Ads Corporate memberships |
Ads Paid memberships |
Tipping Subscriptions |
Tipping Book publishing Corporate memberships |
Among these, note, evolving from the paid-article site cakes, stood out by letting anyone create and share.
Cakes (Note’s Predecessor) vs. Note
| Launch Date | Type | Writers | Dedicated Editor | Pricing | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| cakes | 2012 | Paid e-magazine | Professional writers | ✅ | ¥500/month or ¥150/week |
| note | 2014 | Creator platform | Anyone | ❌ | Set by individuals |
Cakes focused on professional writers’ high-quality content, while note opened publishing to all users (creators). Cakes sold bundled articles, but note allows individual purchases or subscriptions to directly support creators.
Its ad-free model, connecting creators and readers directly, pioneered today’s tipping and subscription trends, a key strength rooted in its cakes origins.
Japanese Blog Sites and Domain Power
Using Moz’s comparison tool, let’s compare the domain power of major Japanese blog sites.
Domain Power: A metric of a website’s trustworthiness by search engines like Google.
| Service | URL | Domain Power |
|---|---|---|
| FC2 Blog | https://blog.fc2.com/ | 92 |
| note | https://note.com/ | 92 |
| Hatena Blog | https://hatena.blog/ | 91 |
| Ameba Blog | https://www.ameba.jp/ | 91 |
| Cocolog | https://www.cocolog-nifty.com/ | 90 |
| Livedoor Blog | https://blog.jp/ | 87 |
| Qiita | https://qiita.com/ | 86 |
| Zenn | https://zenn.dev/ | 54 |
| Seesaa Blog | https://blog.seesaa.jp/ | 53 |
Moz emphasizes backlinks, favoring older sites with more articles. However, search engines like Google now use unpublished algorithms with evolving criteria, reducing the focus on backlinks.
Recently, lightweight sites like note, Qiita, and Zenn with frequent new posts rank higher, so domain power is just one metric to consider.
The Era of SNS and Information Spread
From the late 2000s, SNS, focused on short posts, overtook blogs.
gantt
title SNS
dateFormat YYYY-MM-DD
axisFormat %Y
section SNS
Facebook : 2004-02-04, 2025-06-28
Twitter : done, 2006-07-15, 2023-07-23
X : 2023-07-23, 2025-06-28
Instagram : 2010-10-06, 2025-06-28
Bluesky : 2023-02-01, 2025-06-28
Threads : 2023-07-05, 2025-06-28
- Facebook: Born from U.S. college communication
- Twitter: Introduced retweets and hashtags
- Instagram: Specialized in sharing stunning images
Unlike blogs, SNS posts aren’t often revisited, but their conversational, easy-reply nature fosters connection.
Launched in 2006, Twitter set the standard with hashtags and retweet functionality for powerful sharing.
X Post Example
【画像生成AI】Stable Diffusion webUI と ComfyUI どちらを使う？ 登場から比較してみよう！
— きまま / Easygoing 🎌 (@easygoing114) June 21, 2025
- A1111 は全てのツールの基礎
- Forge と reForge と Forge Classic はそれぞれ違う特徴
- ComfyUI は拡張性が高い
画像生成AIツールを登場した背景から分かりやすく比較します！https://t.co/c2Zp2iRikn pic.twitter.com/gUKMCyZNMX
The Rise and Influence of SNS
SNS’s strong reach began impacting fields like politics and economics.
Notably, the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election and the Arab Spring (2011 onward) saw SNS play a key role.
Its influence sparked debates, such as Twitter’s 2021 suspension of then-President Trump’s account, praised for curbing violence but criticized as an overreach on free speech.
Elon Musk’s Acquisition of Twitter and the Transformation to X
Despite a large user base, Twitter faced financial struggles, leading to its October 2022 acquisition by entrepreneur Elon Musk.
As CEO, Musk implemented major changes.
Elon Musk’s Reforms
Business Side
- Rebranded from Twitter to X
- Staff cut: From 7,400 to 1,500 through layoffs and resignations
- Introduced subscription/reward systems, making blue badges purchasable
Features
- Opened display algorithm and cracked down on bots
- Boosted his own posts 1000x
- Added AI assistant Grok and image generation (initially Flux.1[shnell], now self-developed Aurora)
Musk’s changes led to an estimated 15-20% user drop, but improved X’s finances, aligning it with SpaceX under the X brand.
Did Bluesky and Threads Replace X?
gantt
title SNS
dateFormat YYYY-MM-DD
axisFormat %Y
section SNS
Facebook : 2004-02-04, 2025-06-28
Twitter : done, 2006-07-15, 2023-07-23
X : 2023-07-23, 2025-06-28
Instagram : 2010-10-06, 2025-06-28
Bluesky : 2023-02-01, 2025-06-28
Threads : 2023-07-05, 2025-06-28
Musk’s reforms triggered user exodus, prompting competitors like Bluesky and Threads to step in.
Bluesky
- Founded by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey (now departed)
- Similar to X in usability
- Decentralized SNS with the option to delete past posts
【画像生成AI】 denoise は、ノイズを足す！ image to image の最適な設定 - denoise は描き換えの強さ - denoise はノイズを足す - scheduler で大きく変わる 難しく感じる denoise と scheduler について、図解で分かりやすく解説します！ note.com/ai_image_jou...
— きまま / Easygoing 🎌 (@easygoing0114.bsky.social) 2025年6月13日 18:27
[image or embed]
Threads
- Operated by Meta (Facebook/Instagram)
- Accessible with an existing Meta account
- Suppresses political content to reduce debate
View on Threads
Both use algorithms to minimize conflict by limiting political posts, targeting users leaving X.
However, Bluesky faces echo chamber issues, where specific views amplify, suggesting free expression vs. conflict will remain debated.
Active User Numbers Fall Short of X
Let’s compare active user stats:
- MAU (Monthly Active Users): Used at least once a month
- DAU (Daily Active Users): Used daily
While Bluesky and Threads gained some traction from X users, their daily active users lag behind X.
Musk’s reforms sparked interest, with many creating accounts on Bluesky or Threads, but most stayed on X. With his posts prioritized, X will likely continue influencing various fields.
Conclusion: Note and X Dominate!
- Communication shifted from blogs to SNS
- Among blogs, note leads
- Among SNS, X reigns supreme
gantt
title Blogs and SNS
dateFormat YYYY-MM-DD
axisFormat %Y
section Global Blogs
Blogger : 1999-08-23, 2025-06-28
WordPress : 2003-05-27, 2025-06-28
Tumblr : 2007-02-19, 2025-06-28
Medium : 2012-08-15, 2025-06-28
Ghost : 2013-10-14, 2025-06-28
Substack : 2017-10-01, 2025-06-28
section Japanese Blogs
Hatena Diary & Hatena Blog : 2003-01-16, 2025-06-28
Seesaa Blog : 2003-10-08, 2025-06-28
Livedoor Blog : 2003-11-01, 2025-06-28
Cocolog : 2003-12-01, 2025-06-28
goo Blog : done, 2004-02-25, 2025-06-28
Ameba Blog : 2004-09-01, 2025-06-28
FC2 Blog : 2004-10-28, 2025-06-28
Yahoo! Blog : done, 2005-07-01, 2019-12-15
Qiita : 2011-09-01, 2025-06-28
note : 2014-04-07, 2025-06-28
LINE Blog : done, 2014-11-01, 2023-06-29
Zenn : 2020-05-12, 2025-06-28
section SNS
Friendster : done, 2002-03-22, 2015-06-14
LinkedIn : 2003-05-05, 2025-06-28
Myspace : 2003-08-01, 2025-06-28
Mixi : 2004-02-01, 2025-06-28
Facebook : 2004-02-04, 2025-06-28
Reddit : 2005-06-23, 2025-06-28
Twitter : done, 2006-07-15, 2023-07-23
X : 2023-07-23, 2025-06-28
Instagram : 2010-10-06, 2025-06-28
Misskey : 2018-04-08, 2025-06-28
Bluesky : 2023-02-01, 2025-06-28
Threads : 2023-07-05, 2025-06-28
Mixi2 : 2024-12-16, 2025-06-28
I’ve summarized my go-to platforms here. I started note about a year ago for its simplicity, ad-free nature, and free access, and I’m grateful for the readership it’s brought, confirming its excellence.
I also enjoy Blogger, the oldest blog service, for its unique charm and longevity.
Next, I plan to explore X’s timeline algorithm, released in 2023.
Thanks for reading to the end!