The Xinner's guide to blogstalking (or how to waste away your afternoon)

What made me really get into blogging way back in '03, was that I've always a bit of a people-watcher, and so really enjoyed reading my friends' blogs. Their thoughts and perspectives on things they were experiencing (that I often knew about firsthand) revealed a side to them that I didn't really get a chance to see in real life. What you write in your blog can sometimes be quite different from what you would talk about.

As I moved from high school to university, I found I still belonged to the blogosphere, albeit a slightly different one, when one of bible study mates remarked on the existence of my blog. I suddenly realised that here too, a blogging culture existed, one which I felt I should get better acquainted with.

So, here's my guide to getting to know your blogosphere, aka blogstalking.

1. Obviously, ask. One of the primary ways you can find someone's blog is by asking them if they have one. You aren't going to find a blog if it's not there. Makes an excellent opportunity for conversation too, as it begs questions like 'why blog?' and 'what do you think of blogging?'. If you, like me, take vicarious pleasure from the reading of blogs, you might want to play that down a bit by focusing on the other person in such a conversation, as well, we all know that stalking is weird and possibly even sociopathic.
2. Blog stalking is not about targeting specific people, but getting to know your network of bloggers and the blogosphere in which you belong. Once you have the address of one person's blog, you will often easily find other blogs through links on their sidebar. Let the click-fest begin!
3. Facebook is an excellent tool for discovering someone's blog. If you check under their profile information in the sidebar, or under the info tab, you may just strike gold.
4. For most part, there is no way that a blog is not linked from some other place on the web, whether it is another person's blog, or Google, or Facebook. Have faith, if you are sufficiently determined, you will be aptly rewarded for your efforts.

Oh dear, I fear I have just opened a can of worms with regards to blogging culture, privacy and why-I-am-not-a-sociopath.