Want to peek at someone else's diary? Wonder what memes are hot today? Hate the mass media, but wonder why?

Weblogs make public what used to be private--mutters, whines, rants, complaints taking off from sites seen, and personal angst.

Bloggers use the Web to define themselves. They use links to triumph over the blank page, discovering weird gold out on the Internet, commenting, keeping the discussion going.

Bloggers expand their sites-and their email-- by revealing their personal ideas, feelings, and lives. The problem is: how much do you get out of a blog?

At first, when blogging was young, we accepted almost any drivel as self expression.  Now that there are hundreds of thousands of blogs out there, we have to ask ourselves some tough questions.

Questions to ask about a blog

• Who's behind this blog?

• What's the attitude?

• What's the obsession?

• What are some highlights?

• What are some of the rough edges?

• How tempting are the link descriptions, page teases, and suggestions to visit other blogs?

• How rewarding do you find the list of recommended blogs?

• How often does this blog appear?

• Is this blog worth bookmarking for a return visit?

Weblogs to check

If you're new to blogging, and want to explore some weblogs, try these for starters:

Amy Wohl
http://amywohl.weblogger.com/

Deborah Branscum
http://buzz.weblogs.com/

Blogatelle
http://www.blogatelle.com/

Blogs by Women
http://ringsaround.net/blogsbywomen/

Jennifer Balderama
http://nonsense-verse.blogspot.com/

Purse Lips Square Jaw
http://www.purselipsquarejaw.org/index.html

[Stop] Design
http://www.stopdesign.com/

If you're into ideas

Here are blogs from some of the folks who make the Web an exciting symposium.

Dave Weinberger
http://www.hyperorg.com/blogger/index.html

Dave Winer
http://davenet.userland.com/

Christopher Locke (Rageboy)
http://www.rageboy.com/blogger.html

Dan Gillmor's eJournal
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/business/columnists/dan_gillmor/ejournal/

Doc Searls
http://doc.weblogs.com/

J. D. Lasica
http://jd.manilasites.com/

Blogcritics
http://blogcritics.org/

For Background on blogging

If you want to find out how some people create weblogs, or if you just want to get a little of the thinking behind this popular movement, these sites help.

Blogger.com
http://www.blogger.com/

Userland
http://www.weblogs.com
http://davenet.userland.com/2002/07/31/megHourihanWhatWereDoingWhenWeBlog

Movable Type
http://www.movabletype.org/