Very often I am confronted with the questions "what's that -- a blog?" and "why on earth someone would keep a blog?"

For those who feel the itch represented by the question above I recommend an introductory article: What's up with blogging, and why should you care? Here is the synopsis:

«What's all the fuss about blogging? It looks and smells mostly like writing, self-expression conveyed in a chronological format that invites comments and the inclusion of a variety of media types and links, similar to a Web page or e-newsletter. In fact, blogs (weB LOG) provide a way for non-programmers or HTML jockeys to present their writings, ramblings, diaries, rants, marketing spiel, political advocacy, research or whatever online communication with simple, yet increasingly powerful tools.» [article by Dan Farber, ZDNet]

This is a thumbnail approach, of course. In order to engage questions like "why is blogging so big as a phenomenon?" you need to step back and have a look at a bigger picture:

«Many blogging advocates believe that blogs are the most significant democratizing force since the rise of the Internet itself. Who needs the New York Times if you have access to a mass of literate, informed bloggers. Combine blogs with social networks and presence services (such as instant messaging and global positioning), and you have a new person-to-person, information-sharing connection fabric.»

The working hypothesis is the evolution of internet -- this medium is constantly lowering its entry barriers (think democracy) and the increasing diversity feeds the post-bubble innovation dynamics.

As a designer -- all I need is to tap into one of the design blogosphere's many hot spots and monitor its pulse: Design Observer, What Do I Know (Todd Dominey in Atlanta), Speak Up, Antipixel (Jeremy Hedley in Tokyo), The Byrdhouse (Kevin Byrd in Atlanta -- I think), Contact Sheet (Scott Steffens in Seattle), Z+Blog (Z+Partners' corporate blog), and many more. They can inspire me, teach me, or make me acknowledge my thoughts or standing on a given topic.