"...the Web's outpouring of human expression deserves a more exuberant response, too. It should delight us. "

I've been reading a new book, Say Everything: How Blogging Began, What It's Becoming, and Why It Matters, by Salon.com co-founder Scott Rosenberg this week. The book gives a good history of blogging, how it came about and why it is so important. Chapters such as the "Blogger Catapult," "The Rise of Political Blogging," "The Exploding Blogosphere," and "The Perils of Keeping it Real" give detailed accounts of what blogging is really about, the pitfalls and the upsides. In the ending chapter, "Twilight of the Cynics," the author points out that though the cynics said blogging wouldn't last, they were wrong:

Simple beat busy. Personal beat corporate. Links beat walls and gates. For years I'd wondered whether the cynical diagnosis, which offered itself as the wisdom of experience, might actually represent the resentment of a dying order. Finally, I concluded that it did.

So, if you ever wondered how blogging started--it wasn't invented, it evolved--or how Matt Drudge got his start (no, he's not really a blogger), or other general stuff about the Web, then you will enjoy the book.