Blogs: A phenomenon that benefits the community?

Blogs or weblogs are fast emerging as one of the new forms of communication. Technorati, a blog search engine estimated that there are 111.2 million blogs on the internet as of June 2008. But why are blogs growing so rapidly?

One of the main reason why blogs are widely accepted by the people is that blogs are more user friendly as compared to websites. Polomka (2008) believes that "having a blog was much more popular than a normal website as they are easier to create, easy to maintain and lots of fun." She suggested that bloggers invite friends and family to visit their blog, and share their progress, through the good and bad times.

Blogging connects people around the world, especially to those who share similar interest and opinions. (Source: Royal Town Planning Institute, 2007)

Another reason why blogs are reaching cult status is because blogs links people to people; it builds communities. A research done by Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne found that blogging helps you feel less isolated, more connected to a community and more satisfied with your friendships, both online and face-to-face (Ryan 2008). The research further found that bloggers felt more confident as they could find solace in others whom they share a greater sense of belonging to a group of like-minded people.

Regardless of coming together as a community or for simple daily musing, blogs play an important role in shaping our society. Blogs gives us a voice to be heard; it is our chance to speak our mind and receive an instant respond from someone who feels the same way too. Now, that's the power of communication!


References:
Community Planning Project, Royal Town Planning Institute, viewed 3 November 2008, <http://www.rtpi.org.uk/download/118/world-connect-people-community-international.jpg>.

Polomka, S 2008, How blogging can benefit you financially, Articlesbase, viewed 3 November 2008, <http://www.articlesbase.com/online-business-articles/how-blogging-can-benefit-you-financially-355674.html>.

Ryan, C 2008, Blogging boosts your social life: research, ABC News, viewed 3 November 2008, <http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/03/03/2178512.htm>.

Welcome to Technorati, Technorati Media, viewed 3 November 2008, <http://technoratimedia.com/about/>.