The term "blog" was coined only in 1997, but less than 10 years later the blogging phenomenon is sweeping across the United States and around the world. Millions of bloggers are filling the blogosphere with everything from personal journals and family photographs to political advocacy and journalistic commentary. Blogophiles say the blogging revolution is changing politics, business and popular culture for the better by reducing the influence of elites and institutions and allowing for wider public participation and greater interactivity. Some skeptics, however, question whether blogging is anything more than an Internet fad. And some critics say public-policy blogs spew too much unchecked information and overhyped rhetoric into the political process. But with easy-to-use software and growing interest among individuals as well as businesses and government, the blogging phenomenon appears unlikely to peak any time soon.

Kenneth Jost is Supreme Court editor, CQ Press; associate editor, CQ Researcher; and author of The Supreme Court Yearbook since the 1992-1993 edition. 

Melissa J. Hipolit is the assistant editor of CQ Researcher. She graduated magna cum laude from Hobart and William Smith Colleges with a bachelor's degree in history. She has contributed to recent reports, including "American Indians," "Death Penalty Controversies," "Eating Disorders" and "Emerging China."