For those who have not caught up with the Blogging phenomena, a "blog" is a sort of online journal, usually written by an individual, chronicle-ling their life, but mostly their opinions and thoughts, backed up with much linking to other Websites (mostly other blogs). Blogs may well become the new journalism heralded by the 'new' publishing technology of the Web.

Despite it's fast acceptance by the mainstream, the Web has withered at what it should really do best - self publishing and hyperlinking between resources. Greed and opportunism, as well as the strategy of the existing publishing oligarchy to gum up the Web before it truly threatened their communication old-boy monopoly, explains much of this.

Blogs, that admittedly range from the inspired to the insipid, sometimes provide a personal view into the culture and worlds of many of the thousands of bloggers worldwide. Wade through the crass, and you may well find a few that are well worth a regular read.

And just as one small example today, see what you can learn in one hour about India from this List of Indian Blogs from Kamat's Potpourri

For spotting trends that may affect society, marketing, business, and economies, there are some jewels of first person insight scattered among these. Blogs, especially if they become mainstream, could well become the anthropological researcher's gold mine given time.