Have you updated your weblog lately?

When the hype is gone, weblogs will stay.

The Internet gave us Usenet. We got IRC and instant messaging. We love email and (at least some of us) embrace forums. And boy, we really love to share our daily rants with the rest of the world by keeping web journals, commonly referred to as weblogs.

You think it's odd that people still use fax machines? Well, there are good business reasons that a fax (for some of us) is still the preferred means of communication. Have you spoken to a lawyer lately? Do you have friends who deal with legal matters frequently? I bet they use a fax machine more than once a day.

People use different communication channels for different reasons, convenience being one of them. Some conversations need to take place in a synchronous manner while IM and email (and even answering machines) make perfect sense for asynchronous discussions. An AIM group chat might be a perfect way to plan a party with your friends, an encrypted Skype conference call might be ideal to hold virtual company meetings, and a weblog entry is a good way to share and discuss ideas (or emotions, feelings, experiences, ... or cat pictures).

The good news is: anyone who is computer literate enough to send an email can start a blog. It's very easy. No matter what weblog software you use or what service you subscribe to, all you need to get familiar with in the concept of sharing your thoughts. You don't need to share with just anybody. You can have a weblog for a small group of friends or family, you can keep a weblog behind corporate firewalls, but if you really want to, sharing with the rest of the world is just as easy.

Now some people get all confused about this whole new Web 2.0 thing. It's not just another buzzword, it's a whole range of new concepts, applications, APIs and business ideas. Chances are if you don't understand how weblogs work or what makes blogs so popular, you will not understand what makes this Web 2.0 so terribly exciting. (No, it's not the font size that matters.) If it is news to you that weblogs have been popular way before the term "Web 2.0" was coined, it's time to do your homework.

Yes, weblogs are a (somewhat) integral part of Web 2.0. Yes, not every business idea betting on the success of blogs (or Web 2.0) will be successful. Yes, there is a lot of hype these days. But you know what? Not every car manufacturer of the early days is still around in 2005. Yet a lot of people still use cars to get from A to B. When I look outside, the streets are actually full of cars.

So I wouldn't be too surprised if weblogs were here to stay. They will evolve. They will become a preferred communication channel for some of us, for certain types of information. It's time to update your personal weblog.