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Blogosphere beckons
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After e-mails and chat rooms, blogging is the latest fad with Internet buffs in town, writes SYEDA FARIDA
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IT'S BEEN a hard day's night, croons the radio on the mantle and Kima, a management student, is busy keying his blog. The topic is Love, jealousy & ex-girlfrens: A Valentine's Day Special, that goes like "Was our ancestor romantic? I'm sure he wouldn't have given his woman a red rose. Maybe he took her for a walk by the creepy mosquito-infested swamp in the night. And then gifted her a necklace made up of dried animal skulls to show how much he care. But there's one thing I've always wondered. What if things between him and his designated woman did not work out? How did they break up? And if they found new partners after that, did they feel anything about their old flame?"
If the1960s saw folks strumming the Beatles song over two pints of lager, the Gen X in town prefers to turn to the digital pulpit on a bad hair day, penning memos to the world on their blogs. A blog, derived from web log, is a web diary that one updates on an ongoing basis. Ever since Blogger was launched a few years ago, many URLs offer templates and blog spaces for blogging buffs. And the number of blog hoppers as well as bloggers is on the rise making it the fastest growing community on the net. "This is a relatively new process prevalent with the 18-40 year olds. Blogging really started picking up phenomenally about a year and a half. Unlike chat rooms where you could go and talk to anybody or e-mail that is not real time, blogging is more like publishing — you have to say something to the world and world has to say something to you," observes Mahesh Murthy, technology investor and business columnist.
"It allows others to read about your daily activities without having them sneak into your room and read your personal diary. Be it the tsunami or American election or Prince Harry wearing a Nazi uniform, bloggers are always there to discuss about it," explains Kima. "Creating a blog is as simple as opening an e-mail account. I have been reading blogs for a while. I got myself a blog in October last. Most of my friends are into blogging," says Sita Mamidipudi, studying Intermediate IInd year, St. Francis Junior College.
Ankit, an event manager, started his blog because, "sending mails is very cumbersome and boring. Now everyone who wants to know about me can just log on and see what I am up to on www.mobylog.com. I am more into picture blogging as I have a camera phone, I wanted my friends to know the latest in my life with pictures," he says.
Technology, politics, war blogging, alternative medicine, I-hate-outsourcing-to-India, I-love-cars and one for parents of newborn, the blogosphere is vast. Off line meetings of such blogs is the new fad in town. Recently members of Caferati, the English writers blog on blogspot.com in the twin cities met up to read out their works. A case of zero cost home-grown publishing, blogging heralds a parallel publishing revolution, bypassing the traditional publisher— advertiser route. Also, well-trafficked sites get paid.
As for the future, "blogging in regional languages. We have 15 million net users and 45 mobile connections. Blogging will grow from bulletin board entities to live chat forums accessible by mobile phones," sums up Murthy. In the meantime the blog would be the right space to post that invite for a cuppa latte in the coffee bar round the bend or the new release in IMAX.
Sympathy wave
BRITISH BROADCASTING Corp. journalist Ivan Noble's blog is known to the online community as `Noble's Tumour Diary'. Noble was diagnosed with malignant brain tumour in 2002. His blog, which ran for three years on the BBC News Website, included entries about his radiotherapy, chemotherapy and brain surgeries. "The regular feedback from people every time I have written has been wonderful, especially in real times of crisis. I know that it has kept me going much longer than I would have without it and I am grateful. I will end with a plea. If two or three people stop smoking as a result of anything I have ever written then the one of them who would have got cancer will live and all my scribbling will have been worthwhile," read his last entry. Noble died early this February. He was 37. The collection of his diary entries will be published in book form later this year with all proceeds going to charity.
Another blog in recent days that found a place on search engines was the one on Tsunami. "Within 24 hours of Tsunami striking, the blog featuring reports from on site volunteers and NGOs reporting became the default reference site, listed under sources of information on Tsunami on Google home page. One could find ground data such as which villages in Tamil Nadu need milk sachets and which doctor from Denmark is flying to Thailand, with everyday updates being filed," observes Mahesh Murthy. Behind its fun image, blogging sure does have a humane facet to it.
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