Watch how software makes easy work of posting personal webpages, Thursday 3/14 at 9 p.m. Eastern on 'Tech Live.'

Blogging. It's not the coziest or most familiar of terms. But the Net-savvy sure are warming up to the idea.

A weblog -- blog for short -- is a cross between an online diary and a personal online "news and views" service.

"The really fun thing about having a weblog is it's like having your very own little editorial page," blogger Deborah Branscum said. "You can write anything you want to and then people who are interested in the kind of writing you are doing respond. And you sort of develop your own readership."

Branscum, a contributing editor to Newsweek magazine, began blogging about a year and a half ago. It began as a way to promote her business and evolved into a personal communication tool.

"It's very easy, it's very fast," she said. "I can do it through my Web browser -- I don't need any special tools, it doesn't cost me any money. It's just a fast, flexible way of publishing. It's just a new, improved publishing tool that anyone has access to."

There are blogs for relapsed Catholics, blogs to support the "Midwest conservative journal," screen saver blogs of kitchen faucets, and, of course, blogs that focus on Britney Spears.

Not all blogs appeal to all bloggers -- and that's the point.

"Well, there are a lot of goofy, ridiculous weblogs on the Internet, but there's also a lot of goofy, ridiculous magazines on the newsstand that I personally would never pick up," Branscum said.

"I think people who concentrate on the 99 percent of drecky stuff that may make up weblogs miss the point. And the point is, whatever you're interested in you can probably find a volunteer who's busy keeping a weblog that's really interesting about that particular topic," she said.

Branscum says the key to the concept is being heard -- uncensored.

"Immediacy is part of what draws people to weblogs," she said. "The other thing people are drawn to is the fact that [they] have many, many different choices of sources of information.

And the choices are immediate. Self-publishing tools from companies such as blogger.com are free to users. Once your weblog is set up, you can update, add, and delete as much or as little as you want.

"The reason that blogging has been so powerful is because it doesn't need someone who's experienced with computers," said Jason Shellen, director of business development at Pyra Labs, which provides the technology behind Blogger software. "It can be a brand-new computer user blogging, sharing their thoughts and information."