Issue Date: June 17, 2001
Blogmania
Will "PANTIES" cheat on her husband with her tennis date? Will Aaron surprise Jenny on her birthday? No, it's not a cheesy soap opera; it's a weblog, or "blog," the latest craze to hook everyone from college kids to soccer moms.
Simply put, a blog is a personal Web site that reads like a diary. Thanks to easy-to-use Web tools that make writing and updating a weblog as easy as e-mail, more than 100,000 people have created these personal -- and very public -- journals at popular blogger.com -- and that's just one site. If you're not ready to broadcast your inner life on the Internet, reading about other people's is proving equally enticing.
Still not sure what, exactly, a blog is? Well, it depends on which ones you read. There are personal diaries -- like those at LiveJournal.com or Diarist.net, where navel-gazing journal-ists post fears, fantasies, daily dramas and niggling thoughts. Most blogs, though, take the diary a step further, adding links to interesting articles and Web sites. The result? Unique personal journals that can be informative, thoughtful or just plain weird. Even newfangled news outlets are picking up on the trend: Sites like Plastic.com use the format to provide links and commentary on news and gossip.
For those with the guts to create a blog, Blogger or LiveJournal can set you up with a virtual soapbox for free. Related sites to check out:
Metafilter.com This collaborative weblog features links posted by all sorts of surfers on all sorts of topics.
Megnut.com Meg Hourihan, a founder of Blogger, authors this popular site.
Poynter.org/medianews Jim Romenesko's breakout blog is really a news site with daily blurbs on media happenings.
By Contributing Editor Rula Razek
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