GO BLOG IT!

The Cyber Café manager couldn’t comprehend the sudden rush for internet access. He didn’t hide his suspicion, he kept monitoring the computers in use as we clicked “tap, tap, tap” on the keyboard. The minutes ran into hours as other customers waiting to take turns on the systems shuffled their feet impatiently at the background. For us, we were just getting started. Out of curiosity than anything else, Mr. Manager tapped me on my shoulder and asked “what are you people doing online?”, referring to about 50% of my classmates that have bombard his Cyber Café. “Oh, it is called blogging Sir. It is part of a new course we are taking in school and we have all come to complete an assignment”. I replied cheerfully, my attention drifting between the blog page, the ticket timer that seems to be on the run and the Manager who suddenly seems interested in the Blogging Syndrome.

Basically, Blogging is a way of keeping an online journal or diary for sharing information and ideas with other people. According to Blogger.com, "A blog is a personal diary. A daily pulpit. A collaborative space. A political soapbox. A breaking-news outlet. A collection of links. Your own private thoughts. Memos to the world." A Blog can contain text, audio, images and video etc.

The Blogging culture which evolved from the idea of keeping an online diary, today, has metamorphosed into providing a platform for commentary or news on a particular subject etc. “I personally see the emergence of a new blogging industry that the corporate world will want to associate with. It will give so much credibility that at some point, blogging will become a source of living for many bloggers”. Writes Olugbenga Aijota, in his notes about the Nigerian Bloggers Conference held in Lagos recently. Blogging comes with variety of benefits which ranges from the opportunity to have a personal platform to be heard, share ideas with others, make money through advert on your pages (it is the popularity of your blog that will determine this), build a network etc.

The first blog that inspired me to become a blogger was www.artihonrao.net, an online poetry blog forum created by Arti Honrao, an Indian writer. But while browsing on the internet one day, I stumbled into Funmi Iyanda’s Blog www.fiyanda.blogspot.com. Funmi’s down-to-earth approach to blogging leaves you yearning for more. I have visited other blogs, including www.gardenersdaughter.blogspot.com. Like the name suggests, this blog is strictly a forum for the Mexican Telenovela out there. It contains the full story/snippets of all the Mexican soap operas showing on AIT. It was created by Philomena Ojikutu who simply describes herself as a Work-at-Home-Mum (WAHM).

But you don’t have to be a WAHM to be an active blogger. Blogging culture is open to everyone irrespective of age, sex or location. If you have something to say, a picture or video to share, and the ability to update them regularly, then you have a global platform- go blog it now! Visit www.youthmakingchange.blogspot.com