At 17 years old, on the small island of Saipan in the Pacific Islands, Mona Hickey became the one-thousandth person to start a blog on Blogger, the free blog publishing software.

"I was on a small island and I needed an outlet, for whatever high school anxieties I was having and that was the perfect way to do it," said Hickey, who has since made her home in West Seattle.

When Hickey first started publishing her deepest and most personal thoughts online, it was 1999 and blogs were relatively new. Since then, the booming blogosphere has changed the way many connect with each other and learn about their communities.

People have used blogs for various reasons like self-promotion and political gain. But the common characteristic remains the most basic human desire to connect with people and their experiences, said Kathy Gill, a senior lecturer at the University of Washington who specializes in the study of human-computer interaction.

"Blogs are making it easier for people to create communities," said Gill. "They foster community and conversation by allowing readers to comment on postings, thus becoming an author in turn."

A blog, short for Weblog, is an online journal that is characterized by reverse chronological publishing; authors post thoughts and observations and readers are invited to comment.

Personal publishing got a boost with the advent of GeoCities in the late 1990s, which required little technological knowledge to host a personal Web site. Since then, blogging programs like Blogger and Blogspot have made it cheap and effortless to start a blog.

And it's become a booming industry.

In 1998 there were about 500,000 blogs in the United States. By March 2005, there were an estimated 8 million to more than 24 million blogs, according to Gill. There's said to be around 50 million today.

The types of blogs are constantly changing, too, Gill said, and subjects range from comic books to how-to ideas.

"Blogs are truly an evolution not a revolution," she said.

Hickey's blog, titled "Hello Insomnia," is no longer about teenage angst. Now it chronicles her life as a new mother and wife.

"It's changed as I've changed," she said. "It's just this sort of running log of what has happened to me. My life is like a comedy and I want to share it with people. I'd rather entertain people then have a pity party about how I can't fit into my jeans anymore or something."

Hickey likes that with a blog, she can say pretty much anything she wants without fear.

"I can't get fired for being politically incorrect - I mean who's going to fire me? My son?" she said. "I think if I wrote for other people I would start to censor myself. It's so in the moment and that's what I love about it."

Being exposed through a blog has its therapeutic qualities as well, said Hickey.

"The journal is so lock and key," she said. "You keep it under your bed and you don't show it to anyone. I think (blogs) sort of go in the face of that because you do share and you invite people to comment. It really opens the discussion."

Other blogs can act as community motivators. The West Seattle Blog, published anonymously, is all about what's new and changing in the community. The author encourages people to get out and take advantage of local events and places.

"We're not the watchdog/whistleblower type," said West Seattle Blogger. "There are things we feel strongly about, and we'll mention them from time to time, but it's more important to be a clearinghouse for what others are interested in and to present information that helps them take action."

After living in West Seattle for many years, West Seattle Blogger had observations he wanted to share while at the same time contribute something to the community. After a year of blogging, he's starting to see the difference.

"Sometimes I hear back from people who write 'I checked out that thing you mentioned, and had a great time,'" he said. "I hope (people) find out something they didn't know about West Seattle."

But what really makes blogs addictive is the human tendency to be nosy, said Hickey.

"We are all sort of voyeuristic," she said. "We like reading about other people's lives and little tidbits. In the process, people are bound to share commonalities and find comfort in that."

Odawni Palmer said she reads blogs on a regular basis to get a glimpse into other people's lives.

"It's interesting to know who people know, and what drives and inspires people," she said. "(Blogs) serve as a way to connect and ground yourself with other people. I love people watching, and scanning stranger's blogs is like people watching with a user profile manual."

Blogging is also playing an integral role as newspapers shift their focus from print to online development to offset a steady decline in newspaper circulation. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer now has more than 60 staff and reader blogs, said Don Smith, the newspaper's interactivity editor.

Like community newspapers, community blogs tell people what's going on in their neighborhoods.

"When they have that information they can effect what's going on there," said Smith. "What's being gained is a sense of community for people of like interests."

Bloggers can also offer "very keen insight and say a whole lot more about a particular point of view than journalists can do," he said.

That more personal, two-way news is becoming increasingly popular as more people lose trust in mainstream media, Smith said.

"They (blogs) won't replace journalism, per say," he said, "but they provide access to niche subjects that newspapers couldn't possibly cover on a neighborhood-by-neighborhood basis."

And the blogging phenomenon is growing exponentially.

According to Gill's research, in March 2003, about 11 percent of those going online said they had read blogs. By early 2004, that number jumped to 17 percent and then to 27 percent by the end of the year.

Time Magazine started naming Blog of the Year in 2004 and some bloggers have even been issued press credentials.

"My hope is that this resonates more transparency, whether it's in government, politics or whatever part of the world you want to shine your light on," said Gill.

But there' s danger in this type of citizen journalism, she added.

"Now we are awash with information, and some people don't know how to judge what's credible," said Gill. "We have to help people learn to be critical judges of information."

Read Mona Hickey's blog at http://www.kirida.com/ and the West Seattle Blog at http://westseattleblog.com/blog/. Do you know of any blogs worth reading? Let us know, send a letter to the editor or post comments below.