May 29, 2004

WITHOUT blogs, World Wide Web may be a lonely place. After desktop publishing, blogging is another notable fruit of the information revolution everyone seems to be enjoying; mainstream now.

What is a blog? Well, it depends on to whom the question is being posed. For millions of ordinary people with access to a computer and an internet connection, it is an easy way to self-publish their thoughts, concerns and feelings or a means of talking to each other and sharing joys, sorrow and accomplishments. To some, blog still is a repository of useful links and sources from the web and an approach to filtering information. Some others say it is a voice that is being heard in this din. Yet others say it as a memory aid.

Blogs are an outlet on so many levels for so many people. Blogs are massive catharsis venues or mere vanity sites and a shortcut to fame. Blogs are ego gratification for “wannabe writers.” For e-marketers, blogs are quick tools for building their businesses and brands.

True that the web has always been perceived as a medium where users are able to read, publish and exchange documents. But in the early days, self-publishing online was costly and a bit too technical. Things started changing after the arrival of community sites like Geocities and Angelfire, providing free online space for users to publish web pages and in return increasing providers’ customers’ base and revenues. But blogs did not proliferate as the process still needed some degree of technical knowledge and skills. That happened only after the emergences of many free blog hoisting services and affordable software, such as Radio User land, with easy interface that any one on internet got a chance to go blogging; simple.

News is that Harvard University has given fellowship to Dave Winer, a software-developer and blogging guru in order to head up their Blogs at Harvard initiative in order to teach Harvard students and faculty the art of posting daily entries to the web. Trend trajectory reached near its vertex in a short time when many providers offered free blogging service, Google’s acquired Blogger.com, and AOL introduced the facility to its subscribers. As per estimates of Blogcount, there were roughly 2.4 million to 2.9 million active Weblogs as of June 2003. Polling firm comScore Media Metrix reports that Google’s Blogger.com received 3.38 million unique visitors in March 2004.

“Blog” was the most used word on the internet in the year 2003. The number of hosted blogs is expected to exceed ten millions by the end of the year 2004. With more people building and maintaining blogs, their importance is increasing. This is one reason that the phenomenon keeps getting more and more attention in social as well commercial circles.

Popularity of blogging has already triggered a close competition among the hoisting services. Two of them and have re-launched their services adding a lot of new features and giving themselves spanking new looks “splashing around some bright colors and roundeing the corners a bit,” reads the Blogger site, only during the time while I wrote this. New ones are coming up every day.

Blogs, short for web logs, has become a new destination on internet — a whole new cyber subculture — originally were typical link driven and personally owned sites at best interspersed with some observations or random personal thoughts.

Many bloggers are following the same prototype. They dig up interesting articles from obscure nooks and corners of the web, highlight and present them in their blogs, sometimes adding more facts, alternate views, and meaningful insights, providing more depth.

Like the web, the blogs are changing all the time in format, contents and intent. The blog hoisting services provide easy to use templates, enabling the users to choose from.

Geek types and those who know HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) may fiddle with the format and keep customizing the design where as lesser tech-savvy keep up with what was provided by the service. Third-party templates are also available that any inquisitive can download them for free.

Bloggers now disseminate information, interpret them for us as per their own perceptions, initiate and participate in debates, and indulge in a lot more. Surf some and one can find blogs of any kind and type: subject-oriented, complimenting or criticizing perspectives, incisive observations, or deeply personal lascivious thoughts and very intimate details of personal life (some give these details staying behind the walls of anonymity while some do it overtly, even solicit comments, and call it freedom of choice).

Early adopters of the blogging practice, who are in the middle of — and enjoying — an evolution of information technologies think that form of blogs will keep changing over period as tools improve and technology matures.

It is not only blogs that are changing. The trend is turning passive users into active surfers and writers. Blogging necessarily makes people to read, analyze and write. Bloggers surf and search more in order to locate unusual thing on the web to post on their blogs. I read this at the masthead of one blog, “I’m still alive and relatively well. I have commentary, photos, and a dive log to prove it.”

Though blogging, like the internet, is in itself global in nature, and cannot be segregated or reviewed on the basis of geography yet, while writing this, I looked beneath the content of Pakistani blogs, all those I could find created and maintained by our local users.

Local blogs are a whole new world out there. As anywhere else, Pakistani blogs offer a view of what is thought in public and discussed in private. Bloggers here vent, flirt, and tell jokes. They also waffle, whine, or weasel. Some folk showcase their work with by lines of their own choosing or propagate a cause. Some users are producing surprisingly good qualities while some others are sloppy and rudderless.

Pakistani bloggers seem to be very innovative. Their blogs are oozing out with individualism and diversity. During my hunt, I have seen translation of a complete book by one writer posted on a blog — single entry! Blogging is still not an economic hobbyhorse here but one can see some sponsored ads on a few blogs already. Many use them as a safe storage place to keep their hard disks free. Photo blogs are being used as online family photo albums.

Zahid Shahzad, a Pakistani IT professional who has migrated to Australia, had his CV pasted on his sole blog when he was looking for job. “Whatever I have in my personal computer is also on some of my private blogs! (not assessable by others) and I can access them where ever I happen to be,” says an avid blogger Karim Dad. Though English is a predominant language at the net but look for it and you may find blogs in all languages including Urdu as well.

There are still some impediments, the most obvious being access to technology, lack of purpose to reach out to the world and matters of ego and social background. Email conversations with local bloggers revealed some more reservations: People are afraid to speak up.

Mastery of language, technical, or compositional skills are another set of barriers for those who do not have them. Karim Dad thinks, “Though these days blogging is as easy as signing in for email account and operating it yet those who are gifted with writing skills are often web novice and those who are skilful internet users have nothing much to say.”

There are almost as many critics as there are enthusiasts of blogging trend. But evidence is that Weblogs have already become more than just a passing whim. Critics, however, say that this “inconsequential chatter” has given rise to plagiarism of a different kind and the whole thing is nothing but recycling. There is hardly anything original in blogs.

Some users just mark their presence; create a blog, post initial entry, submit it to one or two blog directories and forget about it. Frequent switchers leave one service and join another to build their blog afresh. More blogs are coming up every day.

A few bloggers decide to dump their labour of love in cyber graveyard for good after some time due to variety of reason: blogging as an activity cease to have an importance in their lives, or they do not have enough to say in their blogs.

Aamir Waqas says, “I started blogging because I have an opinion and I wanted to have a place where I could voice my views about things around. Moreover, everyone else was having one in my circle. Writing is a very daunting job sometimes. The stress of daily updates became a distraction in my work and I left it after doing it for a year.”

Bloggers are a natural fit with each other and the fraternity is growing exponentially. The simple philosophy is: “You mention me in your blog and I mention you in mine,” and it goes on and on. Bloggers are keen to see what others are doing at their blogs so they keep up with as many as they can, especially those who are like minded.

Confession: Yes, I would like to see what others publish in their blogs and who mention mine in the list of their favourites. I also try to see and communicate with people behind blogs.

In general, blogs are interesting, thought-provoking and sometimes utterly entertaining and fun. In fact, the ability for users to constantly update blogs makes them perfect forum for individuals to express themselves in so many creative ways. Blogging is an enriching experience on the World Wide Web for those who publish them as well as for those who lurk around and just read. My recommendation: join the party; it’s on round-the-clock.

The writer contributes regularly to Sci-tech World on diversified science and IT subjects

— Adnan.org

— Being in the world

— b.l.o.g

— Cubicle Life

— Daily Dose of Articles

— Discuss blogging

— Dreaming Blue

— Eatonweb Pak blog directory

— Ejaz Asi

— Fire within

— Islam4real

— KO

— Life is Full of Little Surprises

— Moiz

— Padfoott

— Pakistani Perspective

— Procrastination

— Rai Umair’s views

— Rationales

— Search for love in Karachi

— Spider blogs

— Tee Emm’s Window to Pakistan

— The b. files: exploration into the unknown

— The next gold rush!!!

— The Silent Spring Flows

— Therapy? or self destruction?

To-ing and fro-ing

— Where I dream in Blue

— World@haydur

— Urdu blogs

— I am your host

— Salambazar http://www.salambazar.com/urduBlog

 

---

Hosting and templates

Some of the blog hosting services and software

— 20six

— BlogCity

— Blogdrive

— Blogger

— Diaryland

— LiveJournal

— Pitas

— Radio User Land

— Rediff

— tblog

— Type Pad

— Weblogger

— Xanga

— Blog Designs

— Blog Skins

— Ehsany

— Noipo

— Point of Focus