• by Cory Treffiletti , Featured Contributor, September 28, 2004

All right Jason, I give in. Blogs are actually pretty cool.

I have hesitated to jump on the blog bandwagon for quite some time. Some of my journalist compatriots have written about them in this same column -- space and certainly the media in general has promoted these little Internet journals, but now that they have jumped over into the world of music I'm starting to take some notice.

The bloggers are becoming the evangelists of obscure music and creating their own digital radio stations complete with MP3's and streams galore. It's Launch and Live365 and the rest of Internet Radio, but with a narration from the geeks who find this stuff (me being one of the said geeks).

I have to be honest. I love these sites now that I have found the better ones. They are talked about in major publications, they drive significant growth in their own traffic levels, and all as a result of their own self-made buzz. They are tapping into the subconscious of the Internet cognoscenti and it's a beautiful thing.

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned how marketers look at trends in television in order to better understand their audience. Blogs provide a similar insight, albeit a more progressive one. Blogs continue the self-publishing promise of the Web.

They are personal home pages managed on a BALCO fitness program. They provide insights into the trendsetters and the trend-critics, both of whom are responsible for shaping popular culture. Where else can the merits of the new Terror Squad single be matched with a discussion on Dancehall?

So what's next for the world of blogs?

Will there be places for me to view a "Movie of the Week" and read the postings of the Movie-Geek musings live while the frames fly before my eyes?

How long before the biggest blogs are harnessed together for the purposes of selling ad space within their little contextual worlds?

How long before we get really fed up with them?

I'm sure the blog buzz cycle has at least nine more months left in it. We won't get tired of hearing about these for quite some time. Google a topic you like and "blog." You might come up with some very interesting insights.