mediajunk

Yup, that's my prediction (and this guy's, and this guy's and this guy's): the year ahead will see the web diary take centre stage in new media, moving from hobby to mainstream, just as the web itself in recent years.

(Aside: it fascinates me that a large percentage of bloggers are under the age of 18. For the youngest of these webkids, the internet has *always* been there, just like television has always been there ... uh, hasn't it?)

Blogs are also getting a lot more mention in old media, from discussions of the relationship between 'the blogosphere' and print journalism, to the thorny legal issues surrounding the publication of any document, no matter how 'personal' its opinions, in cyberspace.

Happy oh-three, junkies. Blog on.

Just remember, you heard it first at mediajunk:

Google Labs are beta testing a scrolling viewer, that lets you 'channel hop' through search results.

Their webquotes results viewer also looks promising. It lets you see what other surfers think about a certain site before clicking (like how Amazon lets you read other people's opinions about books before buying).

Oh, and for those of you who don't read my diary, you may have missed a link to Googlism, which uses the results from the search engine to build up a list of information on any given person, place, etc.

What do YOU think? Answers on a postcard to the 'comments' pop-up:

Science continues to race ahead of ethics ... now face transplants are staring us in the, um, face.

Insert your own witty 'face' quip below! (Suggestions: Can you imagine the NHS waiting list? Who'd want *your* face? Etc.)