When the Internet came along, people experimented with different creative work. This process has continued, and the blog has emerged as a hugely popular means of expression.

News Reporting

As the news industry developed over the decades and academics began to study it, the paramount issue was and still is ownership and impartial representation. In complex modern society, composed of numerous competing interests, the 'neutral position' is unlikely. Some publications declare their interests, many do not; it is likely that both general and partisan reporting reflects and perpetuates political viewpoints. The Rupert Murdoch empire is the most obvious example. When the vast majority of the media is controlled by a small minority, there is reason for concern.

The blog is an unprecedented platform, allowing any individual to express their own views and comment on the views of others. In theory, you can do this with an equal footing with the newspapers because on the Web, they have no more power than you. In practice it's not that simple. Critics have recently considered how blogging might parallel or threaten established journalism, and yet there are substantial differences. The hack is highly trained, benefits from editorial refinement, and contributes to an enormously powerful, established, and widely recognised 'brand' - the newspaper where he or she works. Skill, insight and credibility are not automatic attributes of the man or woman who wishes to have their say.

Adolescent Musings

In any case, a quick survey of existing blogs shows that the majority are a) not news-based and b) written by younger people. There are hundreds of blogs which express teenage angst and/or the 'I had toast and coffee for breakfast' kind of content. The blog appeals to young people, allowing them an outlet for their feelings and membership of a substantial if elusive community - the teenage Web.

I am not being critical here. I have read - and enjoyed - a blog written by an older (50 year old) woman who spends much of her leisure time in coffee shops, baking cakes, going on little browse and shopping trips, and watching television. It's all very simple, and it's charming. I have also read and enjoyed a few teenage blogs which were amusing, entertaining and endearing: especially, I found, those that emulated the diary format which is both private and theatrical. The blogger 'talks' to you as a hypothetical audience so the blog becomes - as a psychologist would say - a 'transitional object'.

…And Other Types of Blog

After the adolescent blog, perhaps the most prevalent form is the 'trendy blog'. This is characterised by whimsical, 'sassy', and 'cutesy' comment, supposedly reflecting trendy, complex and modern life. The intention is primarily to entertain, and the personality of the blogger is central to the text. The tone is often whimsical, ironic and parodying; this kind of blog is loosely related to the newspaper gossip column. 'Repeat viewing' is encouraged by revealing personal lifestyle details about job, relationships etc which present an interesting narrative not dissimilar to soap-opera. The most successful bloggers of this type may well have writing and design skills that they also express in a more conventional setting - journalist, web designer etc.

Noticeable with the trendy blog is the tendency to adopt fashionable idiosyncrasies like, for example, referring to a partner as 'the boy' or 'the girl'. A Sunday Times journalist does this with his partner, referring to her as 'the blonde'. I do not know if this is the origin of the blog fashion in the UK; if it were known to be so, I suspect it would rapidly cease.

<half serious>Another example of fashion is the often cited enjoyment of coffee</half>. Referred to in this way, it becomes an implicit lifestyle signifier. I am modern, enjoy sensory pleasures, and have a fast, glamorous lifestyle. Not forgetting the caffeine component, which vaguely aligns the coffee fan with a mild, acceptable, 'alternative' drug culture. I need my fix; it powers my professional life. Both these examples suggest that imitation - of established writing style and current trend - is a relevant factor.

The Recent Web

Sadly, the largest part of Internet content is corporate. AOL in particular have a massive web presence and enormous membership, and it is likely that many of their members stay within the 'walled garden' of AOL content. These giants are content providers as much as Internet service providers, and if anyone gets a good idea for a web service or for new content, they are more than capable of appropriating that idea and developing it themselves. In addition, the Microsoft hegemony lurks on the web with its own corporate agenda. The integration of Internet Explorer into Windows, the XP web-based product activation and the forthcoming Palladium security measures all have an effect on Internet culture.

The blog can challenge these social forces, as a personal 'voice' which expresses intelligent opposition. Part of the Internet may have become a corporate platform, but there will always be a large component of personal, critical and 'alternative' material. Size doesn't matter - if you have the necessary URL, you can go to an interesting personal web site - or a blog - which may well be only a few megabytes. The AOL giant is irrelevant, and does not affect you, if you do not look at it.

History of the Internet

Apart from the well-publicised military origins of the Internet, it is an interesting fact that developers before Tim Berners-Lee were aligned with the sixties counter-culture ethos. They were hackers, inspired by the democratic and empowering possibilities of an open access computer network. The blog can be interpreted in this way. Indeed, Tim Berners-Lee authored one of the very first blogs before the Internet was popular (he has archived it), and his intentions were always visionary:

The dream behind the Web is of a common information space in which we communicate by sharing information. Its universality is essential: the fact that a hypertext link can point to anything, be it personal, local or global, be it draft or highly polished. There was a second part of the dream, too, dependent on the Web being so generally used that it became a realistic mirror (or in fact the primary embodiment) of the ways in which we work and play and socialize. That was that once the state of our interactions was on line, we could then use computers to help us analyse it, make sense of what we are doing, where we individually fit in, and how we can better work together (www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/ShortHistory.html).

Ideological Freedom

Academics have rigorously de-constructed the mass media and its ideological dimension. Politicians are commonly construed as expressing 'spin' rather than reliable or accurate commentary. Contemporary Cultural Studies analyses the extent to which our perception of the world is influenced and defined by prevailing discourse. For example in his book Uncritical Theory, Christopher Norris reveals some worrying facts about the Gulf War that were not publicly expressed. The climate may have changed slightly since then. There is, for example, widespread critical condemnation of US foreign policies and attitudes, to counter the mainstream rhetoric of President Bush. However it seems clear that there is still an accepted consensus which is closely aligned with, if not derives from, popular media coverage.

While it is true that journalists and writers have developed analytic and investigative skills, it does not mean a carpenter, web designer or shop owner cannot compare. In fact the media professional, however outspoken they may be, is probably concerned about professional reputation and job security. How refreshing: in a world gone mad over 'celebrity culture', the anonymous, average and more representative personality may actually have more freedom.

Surface or Penetration?

Internet surfing is based on abbreviated attention. The VDU does not easily allow for complex or extended thought, if download time exceeds about ten seconds a surfer is likely to click elsewhere, and many people pay for minute by minute online time. The Web is mostly 'fast food', and complicated banquets may not survive. The blog fits this analysis perfectly; it is both facilitated and fashioned by Internet technology. It is - characteristically - a collection of short snippets of information with numerous hypertext links (the word 'hyper' may have a second, less obvious significance here, suggesting speed and alacrity).

The blog is a record of personal surfing combined with personal commentary which may be and often is idiosyncratic and expressive. Someone might say 'Microsoft make me so angry! They don't reply to your e mails - do you expect them to when they are so f****** big? - and yet they're responsible for their products and their many flaws! Sheesh!' - and they will link to the latest security problem with Internet Explorer. This kind of text does several things. It subverts the conventional media by acknowledging that this is how people talk and express themselves informally - even those who produce polished, professional copy for mainstream publication. It informs other people, entertains other people, and makes the person feel better by venting their frustrations publicly (a very common Internet practice). If the surfer likes the style, content and 'personality' of this blog, they will want to read more.

The blog and the Internet itself encourage 'surface' content. And yet, when you have more or less complete freedom to say what you want and refer to whatever story you like, the potential for penetrating reflection is considerable. Unlike the hack, sent out to cover specific assignments in a particular 'house style', you can roam wherever you like in a more panoramic and considered manner.

Information Management

Information Management is a hot topic. On the Internet, large, corporate and/or commercial sites have to acknowledge it - indeed, base their web site on an efficient and coherent architecture from the very beginning - or a site quickly becomes unmanageable. Cascading style sheets are a hot topic for web designers, and it is now possible to enter text into a page and define how it looks with a style sheet so you do not need to use tables, fonts etc. It's about separating style from content. But the real power comes from a database driven site where all information - a product catalogue, for example - is entered separately from the HTML design. The database allows almost unlimited flexibility in terms of classification, search-ability, updating and general structure.

The blog is based on information management in two ways. Firstly, Internet technology facilitates it in one form or another. The most popular way of doing this to use the services of Blogger, Grey Matter or Moveable Type. And you surf the information on the web, and use it for your own ends. This is the second and more subtle sense in which a blog is information management - it helps you organise your thoughts, for yourself. You are no longer a passive recipient, but an active consumer capable of challenging and re-arranging information.

The blog is quintessentially a form of personal publishing - completely democratic because it is accessible to anyone, and unrestricted by editorial or political censure.

As with the Internet, blogs are still evolving and learning to define themselves; as with the Internet, they have established themselves as a remarkable cultural activity within a few short years.

James is not sure if his own blog measures up to this analysis.