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By Erwin Oliva INQUIRER.net FILIPINO bloggers and fans mobbed Filipino-American video blogger Christine "HappySlip" G ambito during a "meet and greet" event with local bloggers and fans. More than 100 Filipino bloggers and fans came to the event held at the Mag:net Cafe on Bonifacio High Stre et in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City. The event was organized by the Department of Tourism and Internet portal Yehey! Local bloggers and fans were initially given a chance to ask several questions, which Gambito answered readily with a tinge of humor. She then gave each fan a chance to meet her up close. Among the fans who came were children. "I feel so great meeting Christine. This is a one in a million chance to meet s omeone like her. That's the beauty of the Internet. Unfocused offline audiences can trample you at a meet and greet. Online audiences are more targeted, valua ble and easier to handle" said Mike Abundo who has been blogging for three years. Manuel Vilori a, also a blogger who creates how-to videos online, said he was surprised  by the popularity of Gambito. "I didn't know she was this popular here," said Viloria, who was among the loca l bloggers who came to the event. Gambito is a Filipino-American video blogger who has become a celebrity online, as she created video clips based on family-inspired characters. She plays all the characters in her videos. Talking about her trip to the Philippines, Gambito said she felt "humbled" by t he attention she was getting from local bloggers and fans. She again turned emo tional as she shared her reasons for doing her video blogs. "It all comes from the heart," she said, answering one question from a blogger. Carrying her photos, a poster and other merchandise Gambito was selling during the event, the bloggers and fans lined up to have her sign them. During her talk, fans and bloggers openly declared their admiration. One blogger asked her if she was interested in doing video blogs about the poli tical situation in the country. To this, she replied: "Let's enjoy the country. " Gambito admitted she's now getting offers to do shows on television and film, b ut declined to give details. Josh Verdes, cousin of Gambito, also gave his own set of fans a treat, singing original compositions.

OK, we've heard of blog addicts, but this 23-year-old guy in San Francisco take s the cake. Not content with plain old blogging and vlogging (that's short for video blogg ing), 23-year-old Justin Kan is showing his life to the whole world via online video, 24 hours a day, seven times a week. It's Justin.tv, and for now, people are watching. Some people live blog. This guy is "lifecasting." Justin put a camera on his h ead so that he can chronicle everything he does everyday -- and I mean everythi ng, including bathroom breaks. The site promises that Justin will continue this Internet reality TV show until the day he dies: "Justin will wear the camera until the day he dies. By which we mean if he takes it off, we'll kill him." Here's an excerpt from an article in the San Francisco Ch ronicle:

Kan calls it "lifecasting." The concept is simple: Using technology his team developed, Kan has strapped a camera to his head to capture every mom ent of his existence in live streaming video on the Internet. Viewers literally see the world through Kan's virtual eyes, which broadcast his life onto the We b 24/7. He interacts with his audience through 21 chat rooms and hundreds of e- mails each day. He even took their calls on his cell phone until he got overwhe lmed. The show's slogan says it all: "Waste time watching other people waste time." A nd that's what tens of thousand of folks around the globe are doing, turning Ka n into an online phenom by tuning in to his irreverent and uncensored world. Th at sudden explosion of peeping onlookers has caused so many technical difficult ies that Justin.tv had to recruit volunteers from the audience to keep the show rolling.

So, is this genius, or the ultimate expression of online narcissism? Probably b oth, as many ventures are in this brave new world of Web 2.0, reality TV, citiz en journalism, social networking and user-generated content. On the one hand, we'd rather watch ordinary people like us, whether they're doing ordinary or ex traordinary things, and wonderful or stupid acts (as opposed, say, to professio nal TV hosts, actors and actresses doing unintentionally stupid things). On th e other hand, maybe many of us are becoming increasingly self-absorbed, in the backlash against those days when Old Media shoved content we didn't want d own our throats. I'm an optimist, however, so I believe it's possible to strike the right balanc e. Instead of turning the whole world into our own personal versions of "The Tr uman Show."Â