Blogging has exploded in the last few years. It's not like it's a new phenomena, at least relatively speaking, because it's actually been around since the very beginnings of the world wide web. But what has changed, is that blogging is now being seen as a mainstream tool, and hence is increasingly being used by businesses to promote themselves. In a way, this is good, because it does mean that consumers are increasingly getting more and more information about products and services that they use on a regular basis. However, on the flip side of that, it has served to dampen some of the more weird and eccentric blogging that used to be the rule rather than the exception. In a sense it is a philosophical conundrum which is fighting for the very heart and soul of what blogging is really about. And serving to ask the question, What is Blogging? Is it merely a commercial exercise? Or does it strike at the heart of what the internet is really about. Namely information purely for informations own sake. No matter how strange it may be...

One of the great examples of a purely weird, non commercial, blogging experience was the Battle Star Gallactica blog. Guess what it's all about? Yep, the Battlestar Gallactica blog is all about bringing that most wonderful of science fiction programmes directly to the masses. It does this with an eclectic mix of information about the programme, its stars, and the storylines that kept us all glued to our seats over the years. And yet, it was with great regret that I recently read of the unofficial BattleStar Gallactica blog ceasing to blog! And in a way, this highlights the problem with blogging. Essentially, the reason that be Battle Star Gallactica blog was shutting up shop, was because its primary author (a gentleman called Trapper) simply no longer had the time to maintain it. What with family, work and other Web ventures. Nightmare!

One of the great things about blogging is how easy it is to do with it not requiring any great technical expertise, because most of the blogging platforms are now set up to be easy to use. But what it does require is commitment, time, and in order to be successful a fair amount of passion it has to be said. The Internet is becoming increasingly competitive, and so if anyone is going to hear what you actually have to say about a topic, then you need to be constantly providing great information that people want to read. At its heart the Internet hasn't changed. Its a content medium, pure and simple. And if you provide great content, and do a minimal amount of marketing, then people will start to tell each other about it.

The only problem with this dichotomy is that just as something can be easy to set up, it can also be easy to let it die. In a way, the Battle Star Gallactica blog was a victim of its own success. Its author had so much to say about the subject, that he obviously felt overwhelmed by it to the extent that he was encroaching on his real-life! Oh well! Another one bites the dust ;)