On April 9, 2004, I launched askenni.com. At the time, the word “blogging” itself was barely understood in India. Few people had social media accounts; many didn’t even have email IDs. Creating a website was not a weekend project — it was a commitment. It required patience, curiosity, and the willingness to speak into a void, hoping someone out there might listen.
The Early Days of Blogging
Back then, the internet felt like an open canvas. Each website was a world of its own — designed, built, and curated by individuals. A blog was not just a platform; it was a reflection of personality, thought, and voice.
There were no “likes” or “shares” to measure success. There were no algorithms nudging your words into or out of visibility. The audience came if they found you, often through word-of-mouth or primitive search engines. Every visitor mattered, every comment felt like a genuine connection, and every post was crafted with the thought that it might stand on its own, not vanish in the endless scroll.
The Rise of Social Media
While I was typing my first posts, a quiet revolution was brewing elsewhere:
• Facebook had just been born in February 2004, limited only to Harvard students.
• YouTube wouldn’t exist until 2005.
• Twitter (now X) was still two years away (2006).
• Instagram wouldn’t appear until 2010, followed by Snapchat in 2011 and TikTok much later in 2016.
In short, when I began, there was no “social media” as we know it today. If you wanted your words online, you had to build your own digital home.
From Independence to Algorithms
Fast forward to today, and the internet is a completely different place. Social media platforms dominate our attention. They have democratized access — anyone can have an audience in seconds. Yet, in doing so, they’ve also centralized control.
Now, our voices are filtered through algorithms. Posts are ranked, promoted, or buried based on invisible rules. We no longer write for people; we write for platforms. The “like” has replaced the thoughtful comment. The scroll has replaced the long read.
In 2004, I was building a voice. In 2025, most are building a following. The difference is subtle, but profound.
The Price of Convenience
It would be unfair to deny the advantages of social media. It has connected people in ways that were once unimaginable. A thought written in India can be read instantly in Brazil. Movements, businesses, and friendships have been built on the back of these networks.
But something has also been lost. The independence of owning your digital space. The patience of writing for meaning rather than reach. The authenticity of conversations unshaped by engagement metrics.
When I re-read my earliest blog posts, I can feel the rawness of that era. They weren’t polished for virality. They were simply expressions of thought. Today, so much online writing feels engineered — designed to fit into trending hashtags or search engine optimization.
Two Decades Later
As I look back on this 20-year journey, one thing is clear: technology has developed massively, but so has the way we use it.
• In 2004, being online was about exploration.
• In 2025, being online is about visibility.
Somewhere along the way, the internet transformed from a library into a marketplace, from a neighborhood into a stadium. And in that shift, the solitary art of blogging — writing for the sake of sharing a thought — has become rare.
Why I Still Blog
Despite the noise of social media, I keep returning to this space. Because here, on my own platform, I am free. My words are not competing with memes, reels, or trending topics. They are not waiting for an algorithm’s approval. They simply exist — as they did in 2004.
Perhaps that is the greatest gift of maintaining a personal blog for two decades. It stands as proof that not every voice needs a platform’s permission to be heard. Sometimes, it just needs the courage to begin.
Closing Thought
Time has indeed flown. The internet I entered in 2004 feels like a different planet from the one we inhabit today. Yet, at its core, one thing hasn’t changed: the human desire to express, to connect, and to leave behind a trace of thought.
Whether through a blog or a tweet, a long essay or a short reel, the impulse is the same. Technology may shape the form, but the need for meaning remains timeless.
And so, twenty years later, I’m still here — blogging, reflecting, and bearing witness to this vast experiment we call the internet.