Imagine a place where you are allowed to speak your mind freely. Imagine that everyone else listened intently and nodded rhythmically in agreement with every word that was spoken. It is this fantasy that has fueled internet users all over the world to start posting blog entries on every subject imaginable. With the help of free sites such as Myspace(www.myspace.com), Livejournal(www.livejournal.com), and Deadjournal(www.deadjournal.com) there are now millions of blogs maintained in the United States alone. There seems to be no decline in this trend. The blog is one trend that may not be going anywhere for a while.

There are quite a few bloggers out there making quite a name for them selves and not doing anything more than typing out a few opinions or in the case of the vlogger, video recording those opinions. It is becoming a daily routine for people to write in their blogs just as someone might write in a journal or diary. It has not caught on completely but the statistics are pretty impressive with 12 million Americans keeping blogs as a Jan 2006 study states.

Blogs started to rise in popularity just in the last few years but got their start in the late 90s. The first blogs were online journals started by individuals just keeping track of their lives and sharing them over the internet. This was a harmless hobby that very few participated in. It did not stay that way for long. Now there are news groups, public figures, celebrities, and people from all walks of life that have skipped over the pen and paper and gone straight to the keyboard to log about the many facets(or not) of their lives.

The internet has made a completely new form of media/entertainment in our recent history. This development opened the door for a new type of celebrity (as if we needed more of those), the internet celebrity. Many a new face came forth from our computer monitors with the development of the blog and it's offspring, the video log, or vlog. A good example of a popular vlogger is the, Oh so popular, Chris Crocker, who can be found in all of his highly emotional glory on Youtube.com ranting in defense of the falling star, Britney Spears.

When we are not distracted by the over exposure of internet celebrities, some of us use blogs in a more productive sense. I am speaking from experience when I say that blogs can be an excellent creative outlet. Blogs are not exclusively used as online diaries. One of the great wonders of blogs is that they start as a completely blank canvas for the blogger. Using handy html coding; pictures, videos, and music can be added to any blog page maximizing personal expression.

Of course, like most things, blogs are not exclusive to being a benefit to society. With more computer literate kids than years before we are seeing a higher number of young users being exposed to and creating blogs of their own. This can be especially hazardous with the prowling eyes of cyber stalkers hiding among the massive internet community. Then again with crime fighting blogs like Crime Blog, The True Crime Weblog, and Bonnie's Blog of Crime it seems that the crime fighting is on pace with the criminals. Still, the preventative measures of parents are the first defense to such internet hazards.

These days many of us are spending more and more time in front of our computers. Since you are sitting there anyway, why not type up what you did today. Throw in some dreams, aspirations, opinions on major issues of our day and you have just created a blog. A blog could be a pretty useful tool in keeping all your friends and family in touch with your daily life. Computers are becoming more and more a part of our lives, this is just one more evolutionary step in the life of technology.

By: Jonathan P. Niess

Edited by: Bruce A. Tucker