A GROUP of bloggers from Yangon have formed an online community called the Myanmar Bloggers Society with the aim of organising blogging enthusiasts both within the country and abroad.

Ko Nay Phone Latt, an organiser of the group who keeps a blog at nayphonelatt.blogspot.com, said blogs, or web logs, are increasing in popularity in Myanmar and internationally there are now more blogs than there are conventional news websites.

The two main reasons for this, he said, were that blogs do not require a dedicated domain name and there are usually no fees involved in uploading information.

The group is currently developing its own site, www.myanmarblogger.org, which members expect to come online soon.

“Bloggers mainly contribute news and information on the latest issues, but a blog can show the emotions and opinions of the writer,” Ko Nay Phone Latt said.

“Comment boxes on blogs allow readers to give feedback and share their own opinions, creating an interactive form of communication between the writer and reader. These things make blogs different from existing news websites and attractive to readers,” he said.

Ko Soe Zey Yar Htun, a journalist in Yangon with the Flower News journal and a member of the Myanmar Bloggers Society, said his blog serves as a diary, recording the most interesting of his daily activities that he says will over the years become a sort of autobiography.

He said the idea to form a group of bloggers arose when he and some likeminded Yangonites got together earlier this year to publish their work in a book, which is yet to be released.

To get started, the society is holding a full-day seminar on blogging on September 1 at the Myanmar Info-tech compound at Hlaing University in Yangon. The event is free of charge and open to anyone interested.

During the seminar, well-known Myanmar bloggers will share their own experiences with online writing and host discussions on the nature of blogging, its advantages and disadvantages, and give information about the group’s website.

“I hope this seminar will offer young internet users – most of whom are ardent ‘chatters’ – new ways to use the web,” Ko Nay Phone Latt said.

The founders of the Myanmar Bloggers Society have already recruited more than 400 Myanmar bloggers. A small membership fee is required to cover the society's costs of having its own foreign-hosted website.

“The portal will provide links to Myanmar blogs and show profiles of the writers,” Ko Nay Phone Latt said.