Why is it significant?
Because blogs engage people in knowledge sharing, reflection,
and debate, they often attract a large and dedicated readership.
Blogs are becoming an important component of the Internet
landscape, providing authors and readers with an avenue for
unedited expression, reaction, and connection, without the cen-
sorship of mediated chat rooms or formal media outlets.
The simplicity of creating and maintaining blogs means that
open discussions can be established almost immediately, mak-
ing blogs an ideal venue for far-reaching discussions among the
Internet community on new or timely topics. Blogs foster the
growth of communities, and the dynamics of collaborative filter-
ing and recommending/referring may provide new ways to evalu-
ate, vet, and critique student-created knowledge.