Cameron brings up a question about if kids blog or not.  I was sort of thinking along these lines for a little while and I suppose I should write something down.  The difference is that I was thinking that when I was younger, I never saw myself keeping a journal or diary.  I guess that plan sort of fell by the wayside, but I think the biggest impact that made me go ahead with a blog is that I don’t have to physically write.  I’m far more comfortable as and a much quicker typist, than I am a writer.  That and the readability (I tend to write like a doctor most times) allows me go back and read over some of the articles from time to time.  Not to mention that Cut/Copy/Paste is so much cleaner than eraser marks or strike through.  I do, however, enjoy knowing that my current thoughts are written down, rather than just fading into the ever re-structuring of my persona.  It’ll make for excellent reading in 10-20 years, I imagine.

I find it somewhat strange that people tend to keep diaries private (locked even) while on the other hand, blogs are kept quite open.  I think that people have a sense of privacy with blogs due to getting lost in the sea of web pages.  Because bloggers don’t necessarily see their readers on a normal basis, if ever, I don’t think that they mind that their “audience” reads personal details.  The other subtle benefit of blogs is that the people who read the blog might have a better understanding of the writer’s personality/history than some of the writer’s better friends.  So if a blog reader ever meets a blogger, they would know what to expect.  I find it somewhat similar to a musician getting on stage for the first time.  The first few times are coupled with feelings of nervousness and self-consciousness, but it gets easier with each appearance.  After a while, it becomes fun.

This brings up some interesting situations if a blog “fan” meets the blog writer.  One is that the reader could bring up personal instances of that bloggers life, and just start probing into details about those situations right away.  It would strike me as somewhat weird to have pretty much a stranger asking me personal questions… Maybe this is similar to what celebs have to deal with.  The other situation is that you could cut through all of the BS associated with getting to know someone, and just get on with a typical conversation as if long time friends.