The essay question: “Is there a single piece of technology that has recently transformed your life -- for the better?” prompted me to think about gadgets I have purchased in the recent years.   Cell phone?  Not really—I use it only about 10 minutes a month, saving up over 800 Tracphone minutes that I doubt I will ever use.  I still have not answered text messages I got months ago.   GPS?  No, my hand-held GPS also has gotten little use although I have great plans to map our land to great detail with all the native wildflowers and trees.   

The only innovation that came to mind was blogging.  Of course, why did I not think of blogs immediately?   Blogs have changed my life, mostly for the good.  I definitely am a blogomaniac.  Reading the posts on Open Salon, I realize I am not alone.  How I got there reveals a lot about myself.   

In August of 2007 which seems like years ago, I created a nature blog to show as an example to Virginia Master Naturalist students one way of doing an electronic journal.  Basically, I took the  concept of a nature journal and posted it to the web.  I was not sure I would keep the blog going—because I was still doing a paper journal.  It was not long before I realized I had wandered into a something totally different.     

Comments from fellow nature bloggers provided an immediate sense of community.   Like any community,  I realized right away there was a blog decorum or etiquette.   You should respond to any comments.  And, if you wanted any comments on your blog, you should comment on others to lead you back to yours. 

At first, I felt a little conspicuous about such a public blog.  Who were these people and why were they interested in what I might post?   Over time, those questions was irrelevant as I plunged further into the blogosphere, finding blogs all over the world that related to nature..      

I became hooked--starting a blog for an environmental group, one for our local Obama campaign, and finally, my blog on Open Salon. My blog here is probably the most satisfying.  I like reading the other OS blogs on many different subjects.  Some authors write really well, others not so much but everyone seems to have something important to contribute to the blog community. 

The original blog creators probably cannot  recognize what the blogosphere has become. Rebecca Blood, an early pioneer, believed that there would be  few blogs but with large readership.   As reported by  Simon Owens here, Blood commented:

As Rebecca and others discovered, blogs number in the millions--70 million according to a 2005 post which compiled data from the 8 blog hosting sites.  These blogs have had a profound effect on media, politics, families and community.   What other media could you use to solicit opinions, even advice, from complete strangers so quickly?

 In my own case, I have solved the mystery of plant and animal identification by consulting with others.   I have been able to share my feelings about the campaign, the joy of being so close to Obama at a campaign rally or the pain of Palin's entry into the political arena.  I can even propose political solutions and get a response.

Thus, blogs have really changed my life by enabling me to connect with other bloggers.  That is a powerful feeling of community which I had lacked before in my life.   Keep on blogging, everyone!