International Webloggers' Day

Today, June 14, 2005, is the 2nd Annual International Webloggers' Day (InWeDay). On this day, bloggers around the world come together to celebrate how blogging has changed the face of personal journalism as well as how it has influenced the way ideas are spread throughout the internet.

As a participant, I have agreed to post some of my thoughts and experiences about blogging, so here it goes:

My start...

I first started blogging in November of 2004. My first post was actually on November 19, 2004, to be exact. Yeah, I guess I started late. I just had no idea at the beginning that this could be such a worthwhile endeavor. I wasn't really aware of blogging at the time, I just knew that it was an activity you do online, and not much else. Little did I know how pervasive it has become and how it has been facilitating the exchange of ideas and experiences between people all over the world. Makes me wish I started earlier. :-) I didn't really expect to take to it like a fish to water, but being a frustrated writer of sorts, and a highly opinionated person, I guess the fact that I would continue on with this new found hobby was an inevitability in itself.

Credit goes to Melay, a friend and colleague for making me want to try this myself. I visited her blog named Pointless Points, thought to myself, "I should try that..." and the rest, like they say, is history...

The power of bloggers...

Do bloggers have any power? Can they actually shape and form public opinion? Or are blogs a reflection of the prevailing public opinion? Its really difficult to say. Blogging is a relatively new form of mass media. Yet, with a few keystrokes, and even with very little knowledge of computers, HTML, or the internet, one can be blogging in no time at all, sharing his or her views for the world to see.

I guess this is the power of blogging. The power to share ones' ideas is now literally within the reach of ones' fingertips. And like any other form of mass media, it has the potential to feed ideas into the minds of its readers, to shape people's thoughts and opinions about virtually any subject. That by itself is already a powerful thing. And it could only become more powerful as blogging comes of age. Ultimately, blogging has a lot of potential as a driving force of ideas. We will see soon enough if this potential is realized.

The popularity of blogging...

Blogging has become so popular, because, as I have mentioned above, it is very easy to do. With affordable internet access available, at least for the most part almost everywhere, and with the internet still continuing to grow and spread all over the planet, it has become the great equalizer. Anyone, eventually, no matter where you are, no matter how wealthy or poor you are, as long as there is access to the internet, you can blog.

Blogging, as a form of self-expression, addresses an age-old need and desire for individuals to speak out, and to be heard. In fact, it even encourages us to do so. As such, not only will blogging be here to stay, it will also continue to flourish.

I heard on a CNN program that every 5.8 seconds, a new blog is created somewhere in the world. Somehow, that doesn't really surprise me.

Happy International Webloggers' Day to all bloggers out there!