Introduction

I have been blogging for as long as 5 years and blogging has become second nature to me.
I have my own personal blog and through out these 5 years, blogging has pretty much exposed the virtual world.

As a teenager, blogging didn't mean much to me as I was simply conforming to society. It seemed that 5 years ago, everybody was getting really excited about setting up their own blogs and they seemed more excited about sharing their everyday life with the world.

It seemed pretty exciting; blogging about my own life, posting pictures to let others have the opportunity to see what I saw, to experience what I experienced. The freedom of speech has allowed me to reveal my expressions without the fear of being criticized as the blog is mine and mine alone. Revealing details of the day's fortunate and unfortunate events became a daily routine as time went by.

As time went by, I realized why I really started blogging. My parents had left for Africa and due to educational reasons, I had to continue residing in Singapore. The blog became sort of like a third parent to me; tolerating my anger, celebrating my joy, enjoying the same kind of music, viewing pictures that might develop different points of views from others.

My blog became more than just a HTML text where I just wrote what I felt. It became a bridge between my friends and I as well. Even though we had little time for each other, we could always visit each other's blogs to see how each other are doing :)

I spent 6 months in Africa after graduating from college. Unfortunately the Internet connection isn't as efficient as it is in Singapore. Lag became a household name amongst Internet users. I only managed to get online for about half an hour every week and as a result, I couldn't access MSN without getting lagged out and worse of all, I could not communicate with my friends in Singapore at all.

BUT....

Blogger has helped me a great deal. I stayed in touch with my friends via my blog and they had the chance to experience Africa through my eyes. With the most basic function of allowing bloggers to post pictures online, it also aided me in relating my experiences to my friends. Most importantly, blogger kept my friends and I closely connected. The feeling might be as strong as a phone call but it definitely keeps people connected. Even now, for my friends who are overseas, we visit each others' blogs regularly to stay connected

The internet has made it possible for us to stay connected with people from all around the world, but for me, blogger has allowed me not to only stay connected with people, but it has also brought the world closer to both my family and myself.

p.s. My parents read my blog every once in awhile, no matter where they are :)