One of my favorite toys lately is the "Random Blogspot Link", which delivers a fresh random blog with every click.

It's interesting to see what people do with their blogs.

Like teenage girls saying "there's this really cute boy at school that I'm dying to talk to but I don't dare because if he found out I like him I'd be sooooo embarrassed". So they put that on a weblog, on the internet, for anyone to find. Yeah.

And faux-cynical "adults" who think up groovy, nihilistic titles for their weblogs, like "random excretions by a terminally boring nobody", then as their first (and only) posting, say "This is my blog. Aren't I stupid?" Yup.

Lots of opinions (see previous posting on "everbody has one"). Opinions are fine, but it does help to be able to substantiate them. Otherwise they get lost in the melee of similarly caloric rants.

There are some troubling mutations of English, which appear to be a combination of 31337-speak and txt abbreviations (yes, it's not easy typing on a mobile phone keypad, so some abbrevs. are inevitable) that have crossed over into the real world. These weblogs typically live in frames overlaid on anime backdrops, with lots o' horizontal scrolling and text almost the same color as the background. Kewl. I think these kids need to say W00T! more often, it would make them sound more intelligent.

Some good uses for weblogs: Well reasoned opinion pieces not merely repeated from other more credible sources. Occupation-specific blogs that give the rest of us insight into a different world. Teachers using them to distribute class assignments (maybe not the most exciting thing to stumble across, but it's a good idea nonetheless).

Some silly uses for weblogs: SEO (search engine optimization). Pr0n. Crackz and serialz. Astroturf (poorly disguised corporate propaganda as virtual vox populis). Rants about the people in one's life, which would cause suicidal embarrassment for the blogger, should someone stumble across one and recognize oneself as the blogger's personal cross to bear.

Click and ye shall find. We should all do more of it.