Shane Seger’s blog, “Happily Stuck in Ithaca,” says it all. He’s a self-described “gay, progressive Democrat” who came to Ithaca 10 years ago as an undergraduate at Cornell University and fell in love with the town.

When Seger first began blogging at the age of 23, his posts resembled most online diaries. He wrote a lot about his personal life so that his friends and family could check in.

Now, four years later, Seger has a clear idea of where his blog is and where it’s going in the future.

“When I first started it was sort of like, ‘This is what I did today,’ but as I started getting plugged in locally and politically, my blog evolved with me,” he said.

He is involved in local political groups and writes about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues. He receives feedback from people all over the world and even expanded a post that was published as an editorial in The Ithaca Journal about starting an LGBT Democratic Club.

Seger has been successful with starting the group and has 24 people involved.

“People had found out about it through reading the editorial but also in my blog, so it’s neat to have different outlets to be able to get the word out to people,” he said.

Blogs are changing the media and even revolutionizing traditional journalism by allowing everyday people to report and comment on the news. Though some blogs today are simply day- to-day accounts, there are also blogs designed to address specific issues from technology to politics to religion. Anyone can blog and a blog can be about anything.

Ezekiel Wright, a sophomore politics and writing double major, runs his own blog titled “The Life and Politics of a White Male Consumer.” The archives of his blog date back to January 2004. He not only details his own personal life, but also politics and current events.

“I’ll post news stories that perhaps haven’t been getting the attention they deserve or that I think are particularly important,” he said. “I’m able to post my views of the issues freely and at my own pace.”

On his site, whitemaleconsumer.com, he receives frequent comments from intrigued readers who like to agree or disagree with Wright’s position. Some of the comments lead into discussions between him and his readers.

“I tend to do more research when I’m intending to blog on a subject because I want to make sure I know what I’m talking about,” he said. “I also track the news more carefully looking for stuff to blog on. It’s an indirect way to keep myself informed.”

College bloggers have even found that their sites can be beneficial for class. Elliott Back runs more than one site. As a junior computer science major at Cornell, and an international student from Canada, his sites range from a blog for a class he TAs, to a blog all about Asian topics. His main page, elliottback.com, has links to all of these.

“I do it to connect with people and to meet new people,” he said. “With an audience, it feels like you write something and it does something.”

While Wright and Back blog about international affairs, Tiffany Jones likes to keep her blog Ithaca-centric. “Life in Ithaca” (ithaca.different-day.com) is similar to a mini newspaper, detailing events in Ithaca that she and her husband come across.

Jones, 32, studied journalism at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology in Alberta, Canada, and uses her blog to connect with family and friends. She and her husband moved to Ithaca a year ago from Vancouver.

“I basically try to blog about the outside looking in,” she said.

Jones said she believes the blogging craze is growing and is beginning to not only attract more people to blogging, but also to get them involved with politics and creating media.

Seger is one such blogger trying to make a difference with his blog. He said that he is starting to see more activists in the blogging network posting calls to action.

“The next step is when blogging can become more active versus passive,” he said. “You don’t just read someone else’s opinion. Now you can actually read someone else’s opinion and do something about it.”

To create your own blog, check out popular start-up sites like www.blogger.com, www.livejournal.com and www.xanga.com.