The blogger phenomenon is exploding as people begin to tweak the concept with their own creative ideas. The second Gulf War was an immense help, proving that underground journalism can be faster, more efficient, and better than the real thing. Forget imbedded journalists, how about the actual people living through the hell of war. Blogs have been able to tell stories of the war like traditional journalism can’t. They give more than a 30 second news byte, and let you get as much or as little as you want. Power to the people.

And now blogs are going to a new level, playing with the bounds of reality. The beauty of the Internet is that no one knows if you’re telling the truth. Pedophiles and abusers have been using that fact for years. Hollywood has even cashed in, using the anonymity of the web to promote movies to an increasingly over-advertised audience. Flight Risk is a new weblog, supposedly written by a girl on the run from her wealthy family, trying to avoid an arranged marriage. Debate rages as to whether or not this blog is for real. If it’s a fake, it’s been painstakingly researched. Acquisitions Editors are hoping to get in touch with the writer, whether or not it’s true. Other suspect the book deal has already been made, and this is pre-release hype, drawing people into a compelling story online and then getting them to buy the book.

Fake or not, it makes for good entertainment. And a brilliant use of the web. If only I could turn these thoughts into a brilliant tale of mystery and intrigue and sell some sucker on the book deal.