Series: Blogs and Teenagers
Blogs (short for weblogs), are websites that anyone with computer access can create to publish online personal journals or diaries. While most blogs take the journal format, some also go further and provide commentary or information on a particular subject such as food, politics or local news. However, personal journals are by far the most popular way of writing a blog, with millions of people around the world using them as a way to share their thoughts, feelings or everyday lives with the world at large. A large number of Australian teenagers host blogs and this is discussed further below.
The personal journal is a well known method for individuals to engage in reflective thought, but blogging presents a way of taking it to another level, as it is a way for individuals to publish material at no cost on a global scale.
Some of the reasons that people blog are for self development, to improve their writing skills, as a way of collecting information or developing an expertise on specific subjects, for making and extending relationships or for building a community with people who share similar interests. For others the blog serves a social need to share information, advice or experience in the name of social responsibility or caring.
Angela Lewis: January 2006
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