Blogs, or weblogs, are one of many online forms of personal expression and publishing that have emerged with the rise of the internet. They are an ever expanding phenomenon. Technorati, a real-time search engine and self-proclaimed authority on blogs, reports that the “blogosphere” continues to double every six weeks and currently includes more than 35 million weblogs.
For bloggers such as Elaheh Farmand, an eighteen year old Iranian-born woman living in Virginia in the United States, blogs are replacing the personal diaries of generations past.
Elaheh Farmand commenced her personal blog BlueBirdEscape in July 2002. Now just finishing high school in the United States, she migrated with her family from Iran when she was 11. Her older brother lives in Belgium and a sister and brother have remained in Iran. For Elaneh, a gifted student who loves to study English, her blog is a personal diary. Indeed, readers may feel that they intrude on the private thoughts of a young woman growing up in a new land but still missing aspects of the old.
The conflict between the values and way of life of her familty and those of the average American girl of her age makes her sometimes appear older than she is. “I\'m not a \nlittle girl anymore and I\'ve made my mistakes along the way. …I lived life my \nown way. I decided to write. I decided to take it slow, whatever the “it” is. \nSociety can label you, but you don\'t have to keep that \nlabel”.
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For Elaheh , online writing is \nmuch easier than other forms of communication. “In the online world, speaking is so \neasy, so informal, so flexible. There are no eyes to watch out for, no stares, \nno judges, no juries, just you and a screen. You can laugh without the noise, \nyou can smile without the teeth, you can even cry without tears.” on 17 \nMarch.
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Some blogs open opening the \nreader’s eyes to unfamiliar worlds. \nBloggers lose their privacy. But the unseen audience attracts them to \nshare their otherwise published \nthoughts. In some \ncases, too, bloggers move from bytes to paper. Baghdad Burning , published in 2006, \nbegan as the blog of a young woman still living in Baghdad. at http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com. She places her \nopinions on Iraqui politics under the name of Riverbend, having concealed her \nidentity for her own protection. Though born in