Voices for the offbeat? Weblogs conform to nonconformity.

Byline: Doug Bedell

They are called weblogs _ blogs for short. In the space of a mere two years, this new breed of Web site has begun changing the way Net denizens navigate through the Internet's sometimes mind-boggling info-clutter.

Blogs are enigmatic. Not even those who created this growing genre can agree on a definition. Some of the movement's founders, in fact, deny they're even blogging.

But one thing is certain: These personal, energetic, heavily linked commentary pages have struck a resounding chord with Web surfers seeking alternative but reliable guides through the tangled jungle of Internet news, entertainment and general e-silliness.

"You know how people nudge each other and say, `Holy crap! Get a load of that!' " says Derek Powazek, award-winning designer of Fray, Kvetch and other smart Web sites.

"That's what a weblog does."

The explanation seemed to sit as well as any with an audience gathered recently for an intense South By Southwest Interactive Festival panel discussion in Austin on weblogging, which Powazek (www.powazek.com) moderated. Still, as the number of cataloged blogs has swelled from a handful to hundreds, commonalities have grown harder and harder to pinpoint.