MySpace.com. Facebook.com. Blogspot.com. Blogger.com. Etc, etc, etc. You know them folks. They are the wonderful world of blogs!

However, what exactly are they and why should you care? Simply stated, they are a space on the wonderful world of the internet where people share a little bit of themselves with the world as a whole. Some people use them to vent their frustrations. Others use them to share a bit of their lonesome, tiring, but yet somewhat exciting lives. Moreover, others even use them as an outlet for their amateur journalistic aspirations. Some people even say BellaOnline.com is a blog space where our Editors spew forth their opinions one megabyte after another, after another, after another.

So what’s so important about them. Simple. Just do a search for gay blog and see what you come up with. In my most recent Google endeavor, I came across 24,500,000 search results with those two words. My own blog was one of those listed. Scary, but not so scary. The blog is one of the newest ways for the GLBT community to be exactly that… a community. It is a chance for people of our sexual orientation to reach out and touch one another (not in that way folks, clean out the minds!) and feel like they belong to something, even if it is only digital. I know I do it to keep in touch with people when emails are too few and far between, or the ability to communicate through the telephone and/or in person is not viable because of scheduling conflicts, time constraints, or the ever important dollar.

No matter what the motivation, I encourage it and look forward to reading them. Some blogs have even turned into podcasts for those of us in the iPod world or not. As I said before, I have my own blog. I will soon have my own podcast (http://www.divajase.com) where I will record the stories I have written via the digital media of the podcast. I will also answer emails, wax-poetical about life in general, and share what it means to be an out gay man in a very rural college town in the middle of cornfields, the Klan, and drunken frat boys.

Here are a few steps to take to get into the blogging craze.

1. First, decide if you want to create a blog.
2. Decide what you would like to talk about in your blog.
3. Find a space for that blog (I suggest Myspace.com, Xanga.com, or Livejournal.com)
4. Make it your space and fit whom you are.
5. Be yourself and post to your little hearts desire.

Like everyone else, you too can become a blogger, podcaster, or not. It is a great opportunity to share your life with others, and to discover a little more about yourself. Use it as a tool to come to terms with who you are. Use it as a support group to work out the woes of your life. On the other hand, just use it to have a little fun, or to be an amateur reporter. I do it; many others do it, so why don’t you throw in your hat and try it. You never know… you just might like it!

Jase ;0)

Jason P. Ruel
Gay Lesbian News @ BellaOnline