Originally Posted by synapse

It's a fad ... no way IMHO, it's already a well established business environment. When you have media networks relying on blogs for local and immediate sources of news, it's not a fad. When blogging software and service companies are being sold for 10's of millions of dollars, it's not a fad. And hell, when the Adult industry recognize it as a medium to promote / exploit, it's not a fad.

Again, IMHO, blogging is the evolved promise of the internet, making personal publishing actually approachable by the masses. Not the 10% of early adopters but the real 80% mass market. It's commoditised internet publishing.

The obvious evolution is the continuing support (making it easier) for the mass market users. Pod Casting is a classic example of the second evolution which is greater distribution and integration of all this new info.

As someone in the 'community' business I see a bright future for blogging and associated technologies to help people express and connect.