Blogs are interactive media. TV is the polar opposite: a passive medium. Even traditional websites are passive media. Here's the difference. Passive media are one-way conversations. There's a creator and a consumer. The creator creates, the consumer consumes what has been created. If you're having trouble following this, substitute either the word "reads"  or "watches" for the word "consumes" in the previous sentence. On the other hand, interactive media give everyone a chance to participate in both creation and consumption. Blogs are part of a trend on the Internet sometimes known as social networking, that includes such innovations as YouTube, myspace, and Flickr -- sites that encourage creativity and sharing of user-created video, music and photography, respectively.

How does this work in a blog? In its simplest form, someone -- me in this case -- writes entries in a blog. Other people --  you -- read what I've written, and then you respond by adding a comment to the original post. Then it's my turn, along with anyone else reading the blog, to comment on what you've written. So, we all get a turn to have our say.

Of course, the situation is slightly biased in favor of the blog owner because he or she gets to pick the original topics. But, and this is really cool, if you don't like my topics, you can start your own blog, and then you get to pick the topics. There's even a cool blogging tool called trackbacks that allows bloggers to link articles in one blog to similar articles in another blog written by someone else. It's all about conversation -- between people, and even between websites.

The real value of blogs only emerges when there's a dialogue. If I, the owner of the blog, am the only one speaking, then the readers of the blog only benefit to the degree that my thoughts are valid, interesting, insightful or entertaining. But, when your reaction to my thoughts is added in, and then the reaction of someone else is added to your thoughts, things start to get interesting. When the conversation really gets going, it can often lead to new and unexpected ideas emerging. I might even learn a thing or two.

So, you're probably wondering why I'm writing about this. There are two reasons; the first of which is that I think the number of comments on this blog, compared to the number of readers (which are tracked by the blog host), is very small. I don't know why that is, but I hope it will change. I encourage you to interact with this blog, even if it's just to say, "I agree"; but especially if it's to say "I don't agree, and here's why..." The second reason is related to the first. I'm guessing that many of you are new to blogging, and maybe don't realize how much your comments add to whatever value this blog may have. Well, let me tell you, your participation is vital. Without you, this is nothing more than an online op-ed page. Your comments turn it into a social network.