The term "microblog" comes from micro + blog, ie small blog.
Then, "blog" is a shortened form of "Web log". And a "log" comes from "log book", which is a book used to record events on a journey.
So get this, the "log" in log book is because you would use the book to record the progress and speed of a ship by using a reel attached to a chip log... So called because it's made of wood... ie a log.
So a microblog is a small record of your journey.
I think that's very poetic that this very post is a direct descendent of mariners from 400 years ago.
@yassie_j and a 'log' as a record of a journey comes from the old naval practice of throwing a piece of wood — a literal log — over the side of a boat attached to a long cord, and measuring how much cord was pulled out in a fixed period of time, to estimate how fast the boat was moving. The journal (literally, day book) in which these log measurements were recorded was therefore called the log book.
@simon_brooke@yassie_j Hmmm...a couple of people mentioned this but, it seems no one has mentioned that the "log line" / cord was knotted at regular intervals (although I expect you knew ☺️). You counted the knots to measure how much was played out, hence why we measure speed across water and subsequently, air, in knots. Knot probably originally meant "to bind" and it's where we get "node" from. I'm drawing a tenuous web/computer connection here...😁
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