AOL to offer blogging in 2003.

AOL had 35.2 million paid members in December 2003. That's a lotta people with a blogging tool suddenly available. In 8 languages. Already integrated with AOL community forums, instant messaging, photo albums, and home page construction kits.

And blogfodder, things that trigger posting behavior. AOL Time Warner movies, books, cable and television, magazines, and music. I can't wait for the Harry Potter and Bugs Bunny blog themes.

Read Kevin Lawver's, Clay Shirkey's and Jeff Jarvis's writeups of AOL Journal. Cautionary comments by Dave Winer (lock-in, closed spaces, de facto standards).

Based on adoption rates of other AOL community and publishing tools, how many new bloggers might you expect?

Thanks to mediaTIC for links and ongoing analysis.