what does blog stand for again?

Blogging. Why do we do it, why do we read it. Why is it so fascinating to read about other people's anecdotes, hopes, dreams, complaints or manic depressive rants? We all have our own problems we have to deal with, our own shit to worry about and our own dreams to achieve, so why spend time reading about other people's worries?

On that same note, why do people blog in the first place? Don't bloggers know that by typing and publishing their deepest darkest secrets on blogger, livejournal, xanga, facebook notes or whatever know that by doing so, they are pretty much publically stating their innermost thoughts to anyone who can connect to the internet?

well there must be a reason. I know. mostly because:
1. I am writing this.
and
2. you are reading this.

Now I am sure there are completely rational scientific explanations for some people's needs to blog or whatever. It's been a sensation for years now, the most popular sites for this hobby being xanga, blogger, to an extent myspace and more recently facebook.

Actually, what I really want to know is why people would want to write their deepest thoughts and insecurities on facebook notes, knowing damn well that in a few minutes, "(your name here) wrote a new note" is going to pop up on all 300 of your friends' mini feeds, thus making it known to the world that you're "feeling frozen" or that "the road is growing darker and colder every day now." (sorry for those I directly quoted, I mean no offense to your troubles).

Is it a cry for attention? Will you feel validated if someone comments on your blog or rant, telling you that they are there for you if you need to talk to them?

I also can't believe some of the stuff I read on these public domains sometimes. I almost feel bad for reading it cause it's like snooping through someone's diary. Gah! I'm invading your privacy!

There should be some sort of disclaimer on these blogging sites saying something to the effect of "by clicking on the 'publish post' button, your words are now the property of the public and can and will be used against them in a court of law,a circle of friends, or by some creepy stalker who found the link to your blog on your facebook profile."

So you frequenters of blogs, and subsequently a reader of mine, can you answer these questions for me?

"i post, therefore i am."
-JW