By Igsaan Salie
Millions around the globe are daring to share online, writes Igsaan Salie.
Some consider blogs to be the online equivalent of scribblings on the back of a toilet door, while others say they are a tool that empowers the masses to express themselves.
Regardless of your point of view, blogs or "web-logs" are here to stay.
| The number of blogs worldwide stands at more than 30 million. |
Blogs, loosely defined as online journals updated frequently, have begun intriguing an increasing number of South Africans in a growing "blogosphere".
Anyone can register free on a large number of blog-hosting services, such as Blogger or iBlog.
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You can then email them regarding your blog site design or how you would like your site to look.
You then update the site as often as you like.
These online diary entries cover an array of topics, or simply reflect the everyday life of millions of people across the globe.
| 'There are thousands of blogs in operation but most of them are dormant' |
In the past three years, blogs have grown from being online diaries to becoming support and debating forums.
Blogs cover any topic, from the Baby Jordan and Jacob Zuma trials to South Africa's dismal cricket performance and inflation.
Tony Carr of the Centre for Educational Technology at the University of Cape Town said blogs began in the early 90s but only took off in a big way in the United States in 1999.
He said statistics showed that the number of blogs worldwide stands at more than 30 million - and this number doubles every five and a half months.
He said the number of blogs was increasing fast, and it had been alleged that a blog was being registered every second.
He attributed the huge numbers of sites to many of the bloggers updating their sites only once or twice and then leaving them dormant.
Carr said blogs were far from representative of society at large but did offer "useful and revealing insights concerning the nature of topical debates".
"Regular bloggers need reliable Internet access, some basic computer skills, confidence about use of the Internet, the audacity to believe that their thinking should be shared with the world, and time to blog.
"In South Africa this represents a small minority of the population, but this minority is growing and is increasingly diverse."
He noted that there were very few blogs in indigenous South African languages, which was different from the situation in East Africa, where there are dozens of blogs in Swahili.
Carr said people were drawn to blogs for many reasons, including the opportunity to publish anonymously and the aspiration to be a social commentator.
Arthur Goldstuck of online survey and research company World Wide Worx said blogging had been growing in popularity among South Africa's online community.
"But at the moment it is still only the pursuit of online enthusiasts.
"There are thousands of blogs in operation but most of them are dormant and there are only a few hundred that are being updated regularly."
He believed part of the appeal of blogging was that it allowed ordinary people a platform to express their ideas and opinions.
Vincent Maher, director of the New Media Lab of the School of Journalism and Media Studies at Rhodes University, said criticism had been levelled against blogging and other forms of "citizen journalism".
"I think this trend towards the democratisation of news production, which is what blogging and citizen journalism are, is a consequence of the problems the mass media model offers in terms of trust," Maher explained.
"Before, audiences were required to trust the judgment of an elite few in terms of what is or is not important.
"Technology has enabled ordinary people to contribute perspectives that might never have received media attention in the past."
- This article was originally published on page 25 of Cape Argus on April 08, 2006
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