YUP, your eyes aren’t deceiving you. Blog Addicts is now a blog, and it’s no longer a section in our YOU youth site but the first team blog in the INQUIRER.net Blogs network. With more blogs to come.

I guess a little introduction is in order. I’m Joey Alarilla, the gaming and multimedia editor (hey, the acronym is GAME, heh) of INQUIRER.net, and I’m a blog addict.

OK, I haven’t been blogging that long; it was in late 2004 when I took the blogging plunge after being introduced to it by my UP Tinta college orgmates whom I hadn’t seen in years, namely Pauline Orendain, Dean Alfar, Nikki Alfar and Eric Evano.

That newfound passion for blogging gave birth to the Blog Addicts section in YOU, since I wanted to feature different bloggers and encourage more people to blog. When I started Blog Addicts, I never really thought it would receive an overwhelming response from bloggers, but the support has been heartwarming and I figure it’s now time to make it a blog and expand its scope.

Which is why Blog Addicts won’t be part of YOU anymore. As you’ll soon discover once you enter the blogosphere, blogging isn’t just for teens and twentysomethings. Blogging has become a passion for people of all ages, who are drawn to it for different purposes ranging from the lighthearted to the serious. Now we can feature different bloggers, no matter how old they may be (no offense intended to old fogies like me, heh).

And while the featured Blog Addict of the Week will still be our bread and butter, we’ve expanded the scope of Blog Addicts to cover tips for bloggers, reviews of different blog tools, news about the blogosphere and much, much more. You could say we’ll be blogging the Filipino blogosphere.

Joining me are Erwin Oliva and Jayvee Fernandez, and I’ll let them introduce themselves and talk about what they plan for Blog Addicts. We’re the first three members of the Blog Addicts team blog, but you might see others join our ranks soon

So, welcome to Blog Addicts. And remember: 2007 is the Year of the Filipino Blogger!