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Blogs and bombs

A popular Internet hobby could reduce the reliability of results from the world's most popular search engine

by Saleem Khan

Technology can be our best friend. It helps us reduce the amount of time we spend on the mechanical aspects of finding information we want, and affords us more time to concentrate on applying that information to a task in a substantive way.

Every new development brings new possibilities. This was true in the mid-'80s, when personal computers and desktop publishing software gave birth to a wave of magazines and newspapers, as it was in the mid-'90s, when those with knowledge of the World Wide Web's workings could publish news, information and ideas. It is equally true today, as inexpensive and free online tools enable those with no training or experience in Internet publishing to easily create their own news and views Web sites: weblogs.

Three-dimensional visualization of linked sites.
A weblog (blog) is generally a personal list of links to other Web sites, accompanied by commentary from the blog-owner (blogger). "Blogging" has become an online phenomenon, spawning thousands of individual and collaborative Web sites. Now, anyone can be a columnist, commentator, or journalist (however one defines the term).

Blogs made a journalistic mark earlier this year when the Israeli army launched an assault on Palestinian-controlled parts of the West Bank. The army declared the areas "closed military zones" and forcibly barred journalists and others from observing its actions. Journalists reported being deliberately targeted, harassed, arrested and shot at by Israeli troops. One photojournalist was killed. An Israeli soldier reportedly explained the army's approach thus: "No pictures, no witnesses, no story."

In the absence of mainstream media, bloggers attempted to document Israel's incursions with the assistance of ordinary citizens and activists inside the besieged areas. It was a positive development for freedom of expression and demonstrated blogging's great potential for would-be journalists and 21st century pamphleteers, but it is not devoid of dangers.

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