Why blog?

Well, that's a question that pretty much comes up just about anytime a non-blogger learns that someone they know has a blog. "So, uh, why do you do this?" and "Don't take this the wrong way, but -- do you think people really read all of this stuff?..." For some thoughts on the former, read Adam Curry's take, "Blogging: Tune Out and Switch On." Other thoughts at Wired. (As far as the latter goes, I'll posit the following guess that most bloggers would say that while it would be nice if people read our blogs, we don't really care. Really. It's more like keeping a journal than anything else. A journal with hyperlinks.)

Yes, yes -- weblogs provide anyone who feels like looking with an endless hallway whose walls are lined with individual windows, technicolored panes of virtual glass through which a reader may cast a fleeting glimpse or a prolonged leer into the other-worlds of other bloggers. Sure, sure -- it's nice to see what the other humans are up to. But, it also allows the individual to keep one toe in the metaphorical stream of their own proverbial creative juices. One can go about one's usual business and, when struck by what feels like an original thought, can immediately capture that notion and send it out to the world, for posterity. Even if no one reads it -- after all, there's no guarantee that anyone ever will -- it gives one the feeling of having contributed something personal to the greater consciousness -- and one can do so with no more strain than ordinary multitasking, thanks to applications like blogger.

That's why we do it, anyway. How about you?? Leave a message and tell us why.