Read the latest from Emily's “Today in the Bloggernacle” feature.

You know how one dog year is calculated to be roughly seven human years? Well, people similarly think that there are "blog years" that equal anywhere from seven to a million years to one human year. So that makes Dave Banack, who just moved his Dave's Mormon Inquiry to BeliefNet's Mormon Inquiry, an either old or ancient blogger. So today on the Bloggernacle Back Bench, I turn to him to offer some Bloggernacle wisdom.

"What I like about Mormon blogs is that they provide a forum for conversation on every conceivable topic to anyone who wants to participate. At its best, blogging can be both informative and engaging, whether one is a silent reader, an active commenter, or a blogger posting original posts. Blogging also presents LDS beliefs, practices, and discussion in a very personal form. ... LDS blogs show real discussion between real people. The conversation is diverse and sometimes messy, but it quickly dispels stereotypes about Mormons that are often accepted by the media and by many individuals." See? Dave understands the incredible nuances found throughout Bloggernacle, and the importance of the conversations.

Dave began blogging Aug. 19, 2003. When I asked him about the change in blog platforms, he explained, "I have been running Mormon Inquiry as a stand-alone weblog for over five years, with visitors coming primarily from the vibrant Mormon blogging community. I thought it was time for a change, and I am happy to post about Mormonism to a broader audience at the Beliefnet site. As the largest religion site on the Web, Beliefnet is a great place to do that.  They are very happy to have contributions from an LDS blogger. ... If visitors learn a thing or two about Mormonism and enjoy reading and commenting on the posts and topics, that's all I really hope for."

Regarding Elder M. Russell Ballard's call to blog, Dave explains, "I think it shows that LDS leaders recognize how important it is that Mormonism gets presented to the world by individual members of the church, in their own voice. LDS missionary work has always used this approach. Blogging is a much broader conversation than missionary work, of course -- blogging is discussion, not proselytizing, and some of those who post and comment can be quite critical of LDS beliefs and policies. After all, blogs and comments are open to the whole world.  But encouraging individual members of the church to get active online is a great vote of confidence in the membership of the church, especially younger members of the church who are disproportionately represented online."

Dave obviously loves the medium of blogging, so I wondered what inherent problems he sees in blogging. "Online discussion sometimes brings out the worst in people. Apart from coming up with interesting content every day or two, the toughest part of running a blog is setting rules for commenting and managing the resulting discussions. That is a challenge for every online forum that invites reader participation, not just weblogs and not just sites that discuss Mormonism. Still, it is worth the effort: active discussion in the comments is the best feature of most successful blogs."

And finally, I thought his answer about favorite posts very insightful: "The truth is that the half-life of the average blog post is about 12 hours.  A post that's a week old might as well have been written in the Dark Ages. In a sense my favorite post is the one I just wrote and posted." So click over to Mormon Inquiry to see his latest installment.

Now to inquire about other posts from this week in the Bloggernacle:

Power pick: This post was pulled back awhile ago, but due to "peer pressure" SteveP decided to post again the crazily speculative yet incredibly fascinating "It's Raining Men: Celestial Demographics (again)." The conclusion? "So what are the implications of this infant death rate imbalance? That I can't say. I have a lot faith that things are going to get straightened out in the end and these estimates are going to be proven silly or wrong ... and that everybody who wants a spouse will get one." Click to join the deep discussion!

Historical happenings: I greatly appreciated the research that went into comparing the many different versions of the "History of Joseph Smith by his Mother." I haven't read any of them, but with these synopses, I can decide which one I want to pick up. Or if you're just curious about the difference among the versions, the post itself is a fascinating read.

Techie tip: How do you remember everyone's name in a ward? This challenge confronts most every bishop struggling to truly get to know his entire ward flock.  Technology may be coming to the rescue! Read "How Bishops Use the Photo Feature on Ward Web Sites" to learn more. And be sure to read the comments for additional suggestions on how to best utilize the technology while still addressing privacy concerns.