The ultimate soapbox

This is the article I wrote on blogging for the college mag. I promised that I'd put it up here. So, here it is, no changes, no cuts, no censoring :)

Blogs, or “weblogs”, are the new buzzword in communication. And blogging is an amazingly large phenomenon. Don’t believe me? Sample this: I did a Google search for the term “Microsoft”, and I got around 980,000,000 results. A search for the term “blog” returned over 2,200,000,000 results. And according to a recent survey, there are over 400,000 registered bloggers in India alone. That’s how big it is.

Now that I’ve got your attention, here’s a little history. Blogs have been around for some time now. The very first one (called links.net) was started by Justin Hall in 1994. But the blogging boom really took off only after Pyra Labs launched Blogger.com in 1999. Blogger.com (now owned by Google) is a blog hosting space. When it was launched it let people who knew very little about HTML coding create blogs for the first time. And as it turned out, everybody’s got a lot to say.

Different flavours
Broadly, blogs fall in three major categories. The first and most common is the personal blog. These blogs are about the author’s personal/professional lives, their hobbies and the like. The more popular authors write wittily and usually have a dedicated fan following.

The second category is the social commentary blog. The authors write about social/political events in their region and their analysis of what happened. These blogs can be very influential. In fact it is said that some of them had a major influence on the voting patterns during the 2004 US Presidential election.

The third category is the review blog. The authors review gadgets, software, books, movies, restaurants, tourist spots… you name it. Often, these blogs include local information that you won’t find even in the manufacturer’s official website. Although some of these blogs can be biased, the better ones give you a neutral, authoritative overview of what’s being reviewed.

Emerging categories include the PR blog, which complements an organization’s official website. Also you’ve got photo blogs, video blogs (or vlogs), news blogs… it’s a full house out there. Blogs are a great source of information and entertainment if you choose wisely.

The way I see it
I’m rather passionate about blogging, since I think it’s a great way to say whatever it is that you want to say. The ultimate soap-box for everybody’s opinion. And recently, I’ve started a blog of my own. It’s a personal blog. I don’t think I’m mature enough for social commentary, and not knowledgeable enough about anything to do a review J I find blogging to be very satisfying for many reasons. First, it’s the anonymity that the internet gives you. That means I can write about things that are close to my heart and not have people tell me, “You’ve talked about it (whatever it is)for the umpteenth time. Will you please just shut up?” Secondly, it’s a great feeling when someone you don’t know writes a positive comment on your blog. It means someone cares about what you think enough to tell you how they feel about it too. And thirdly it’s a challenge for me to top my previous post every time I write a new one. I’d like to think that my writing has improved since the time I started blogging regularly.

There are some clarifications I must add here. One, the ‘net is not truly anonymous. A fellow blogger told me about the time someone put an IP trace on him, and had information about all the sites that my friend had visited. Stalkers, either online or in the real world, are a threat for the more popular bloggers. Also, blogging can be fairly addictive. The whole process of writing all those little details and following up on comments can very easily wreck your routine if you don’t have the self control for it.

Now, if you think you have something to say that the world should know about, and if I haven’t scared you off blogging yet, you should start a blog of your own. I’d recommend using an established blog hosting space like Blogger.com or WordPress.com. Both have very clear, step-by-step instructions on how to create a blog. They also have comprehensive FAQ sections, which should help clear most doubts that you may have about blogging.
And finally, here are handy webpages on the facts of life – for bloggers! http://simonworld.mu.nu/archives/037779.php
http://www.writerswrite.com/journal/jul02/gak16.htm

Welcome to the blogosphere! It’s a wonderful place. I hope I’ll see you around!
(atlthough if you're reading this, the last line is pretty pointless)