Every year a new craze sweeps the Internet, attracting surfers in great numbers. 2003 is undoubtedly the year of the weblog. A weblog, or blog as they are more commonly known, takes the art of keeping a diary into the 21st century, making every entry and innermost thought available to the global Internet audience. Harnessing the power of the web, these diarists, known as bloggers, search out and link to interesting and relevant websites in each entry, making for a new 3-dimensional diary experience. Daniel Atkinson explores the world of blogs...

During the build up to the latest Iraq conflict, Baghdad-based Salam Pax’s blog drew a lot of attention. Silenced for a time during the war due to blackouts, Salam returned and continues to relate an Iraqi’s viewpoint on the events around him. His wartime blog entries have now been published as a book.

The well-travelled Ben Hammersley, a Brit who has blogged from Afghanistan and Sweden, has now taken up residence in Florence, Italy. However, not content to simply enjoy a room with a view, he’s planning to run a 230km race across the Sahara next April.

Tom Watson, the Labour MP for West Bromwich East, was the first politician to start his own weblog and is encouraging others to follow suit. Visit his site to see what issues he’s currently taking on in his constituency, and discover a little more about what an MP does all day!

Comedian Richard Herring’s blog was set up to help relieve writer’s block and, who knows, some of his entries may become material for future stand-up routines.

If you have a passion for reading, then the Booksurfer blog is for you. It’s written by a British blogger and is a goldmine of information on today’s literary scene, covering everything from new releases to what’s on at the British Library. It proves that the link between the written word in paper and online is as strong as ever.

Weblogs can be scattered throughout the internet. Finding them can be tricky, so webrings are set up as a way of linking websites of a similar subject together. The ‘Blogging Brits’ webring lists more than 500 UK based bloggers. If you’re feeling brave, click on the ‘Random site’ link to be sent to any one of the websites listed.

thisis what's online

Don’t forget to check out our new documentary film producer’s blog ‘Reality Bytes’, which has now joined our feature film diarist for Frozen in our Artists in Residence section online.