The blogging "phenomenon" has been the subject of much media attention lately. The focus of the discussion are mainly the more journalistic, highly trafficked sites that cover political issues, the current war, and various other topics that are normally covered by traditional mainstream media, and whether or not these bloggers pose a threat to that mainstream media. But the debate, in my opinion, has been too narrow, with the press holding up these relatively few blogs (there are millions of bloggers) as representative of the entire blogging community. It is a wide and varied group - many blogs are simply diaries, some just act as an index of news links; many bloggers find that a web log allows them to examine a subject, such as photography, or video gaming, or a television show, in depth; and some, like mine, are just a way to be creative, to share some funny or interesting stories with friends.

I found this Salon article to be one of the better pieces written on this topic.