Somebody yesterday asked me what I do in my spare time.
"Blog, mostly," I said.
"What's that?"
This seems to come up at least once or twice a week, or at least so often that I have the speech down pat: "Well, it's journaling on the Web. Some of the 'Web logs' -- that's where the name comes from -- are merely personal diaries, meant for family and friends. Some are extensions of existing institutions. Some, like mine, are kind of a hybrid. Blogs represent what's happening in the communications revolution, with immediate transmission of information and instantaneous feedback and blah, blah, blah."
Usually, the listener's eyes start to glaze over before I get to the blah, blah, blah part. I do not get the impression that they are going to rush home, fire up the computer and get hooked on this blog phenomenon. So I wonder: Is this large group of people hopelessly out of touch, in danger of getting caught on the wrong side of the information superhighway? Or do those of us who are so caught up in blogging think it is a much bigger deal than it really is?
I don't know the answer, Grasshopper; that's why I'm asking.
