I think that I blog for all of your reasons plus one. The language reason I have is similar, in that I blog to improve my English, but not because its my second language, but because I can always use improvement in my writing skills. :)

The other reason I blog is to have a place to use as a technological playground. I can try out scripts, use databases, practice my skills, test out bleeding edge web technologies, etc, all without fear of messing up an 'important' webpage. Not to say I don't think my blog is important, but if it goes down for a few hours, its not going to kill anyone. I can safely practice my skills that can be practically applied elsewhere. A blog, with rotating content and database backends makes for a very fertile testing ground.

I blog because...
- I enjoy the process of writing.
- I know that people enjoy reading what I write, and I get pleasure from their satisfaction.
- MovableType is a fun and fascinating toy to play with.
- I feel that through blogging I can help friends and future friends better understand what makes me tick, which in itself may hopefully lead to more harmonious relationships.
- Sometimes I need to get stuff off my chest... either wonderful exciting stuff that's making me bounce around, or contrastingly depressing stuff that's weighting me down.
- From a minor perspective, the addition of content to my site increases my site's visibility and desireability, and hence revenueability :D
- It's a bit of a showcase for (enlightened) future employers.

It is a hobby primarily. When people ask what is it you do with your computer I just give them my url. I have problems with grammer and spelling(to much beer and pot in high school I guess) maybe blogging helps. I dunno. I have an opinion about everything blogging helps me unload excess thoughts. I like technology especially the internet. The internet is the last user defined form of entertainment, beats the hell out of television, radio, newspapers, and magazines. A good blog, forum, or news and comments site is like a chat room on steriods and it is a lot easier to establish a conversation with strangers than it would be at the library or local coffee shop.

Great to hear your feedback, guys. Keep'em coming :-)

I blog because of a stupid hypnotic idea: in september last year I decided to picture myself everyday at 9:9am and do a site with the picture. For no obvious reason except fun!
Then I try to add comment and I discover that tools like blogger will be hepful!
Then I still make my picture every day at 9:9am and so I still blog!

I started many years ago (1997) to let my parents know that I was still alive (had just moved out), and it turned into a brain-backup scheme as you mentioned.

I blog to force myself to be accountable for my thoughts and views– when an entry is “published” on the net it reflects what you stand for/believe in/your interpretations. Everything is open for criticism but, more importantly, comment. I blog because it encourages me to reflect on what I read and what I hear- In a period when people complain of (political) indifference I believe that blogging might be the antidote.

Why I blog (I still don't like the verb):

1) Braindump. You described it above.

2) I love the idea of contributing my random thoughts to the public domain. I recently took the step of committing to a pd creative commons license (http://www.creativecommons.org).

3) Someone might read it and find it useful.

4) It's fun, and sometimes cathartic.

5) I like talking. And listening. It's a two-way process.

I have been on the net some years and use it dayly, I read some blogs, but I do not blog and I do not have a home page. Why?
1. I am to lazy / I play games.
2. I like to know what others think and I read some blogs, but I don't know where things are headed. I want to know the sosial impact of a lot of people writing blogs on the net. The words you write today can come back and haunt you in 10 years time.
3. A new effect is emerging, get drunk on the weekend and get the pictures from the party on the net on monday. There is a steady erosion of privacy on the net.
4. With a google search you can get some information about what I am doing, but it will not give you a complete net history for the last year. Ok, some things you keep off your blog, but the inforamtion about who you realy are will seep through.
5. You expose this information to the whole world, to people you know and to people who you never met and will never meet.
I like my privacy and therefore I am not going to blog, ok I will not be as visible/cool as those who blog. But on the other hand I get to keep some more of my privacy. And I know the people who know information about me.

As a last note: When you write a blog and people can comment, you don't know who writes, but we who write know you. Anders, I know who you are and have know you for some years, but you don't know who I am from these words. How do you feel about that?

I read these blogs in order to know what others think...undiluted and not filtered by the press or politicians. Bloggers usually are very well read, very intelligent, cogent arguements are the rule......even when I disagree, it's informative. By bloggers reviewing events and opinions around the world it becomes impossible for our governments to lie without opposition. Usually, they use the press for their own ends, empowering the owners of the press with an unelected influence over our lives. The blogosphere counters this, and increasingly effectively. This is the true free press..and I appreciate it, use it.

I blog because I want to write down for myself and for other readers (I hope)how I reflect over things that happen around me. It force me to think seriously about my stand in different cases.
I read blogs to see what other people think.

I like the idea of sharing my thoughts with others. It's so interesting to see how others think about things, especially when they see them differently than I do ... adds insight that's useful to me.

I blog because it satisfies my urge to

1) write
2) create and design (or vice versa)
3) criticize the government ineptitude and ridicule corrupt politicians publicly
4) write current history as I see it.

My blog acts as a repository for interesting things I've come across, but more importantly what I thought or felt about them at the time. You can keep meticulously organised set of bookmarks for pure links, but the thoughts and emotions accompanying them get lost.

I've learned a lot from the links and articles people have posted (across many types of blogs). Hopefully in some small way, I can give something back to the wider community.

I blog because I like interaction, I don't do anything but sit at home on my computer. SO bloggin is like a little cocktail party for me, woo hoo! lets have another.

I blog because...
- I enjoy the process of writing.
- I know that people enjoy reading what I write, and I get pleasure from their satisfaction.
- MovableType is a fun and fascinating toy to play with.
- I feel that through blogging I can help friends and future friends better understand what makes me tick, which in itself may hopefully lead to more harmonious relationships.
- Sometimes I need to get stuff off my chest... either wonderful exciting stuff that's making me bounce around, or contrastingly depressing stuff that's weighting me down.
- From a minor perspective, the addition of content to my site increases my site's visibility and desireability, and hence revenueability :D
- It's a bit of a showcase for (enlightened) future employers.

People blog because people love attention. It's a way to justify their intelligence and to attain some sense of fame or adoration. Some blogs are very interesting, but for the most part it seems like a plea for attention.

I keep a blog because I need to vent. If I held in all of the things I write about, I would either explode or act inappropriately at work. It's a form of therapy.

I blog to get people know about our new sites

Blogging can help send message across the group easily

I blog in order to keep track of my research and reading relating to it, but also to keep track of the research process, and my interactions with choral music (my topic). The number of times I have returned to things I have written idly on my blog, and researched them further, and developed some valuable area of inquiry from them, are uncountable. I hope, in the long run, that my blog will be something of an artefact of my research process, to be used by the people who currently inhabit my world to understand why I am as I am, and to eventually reasure my students that their fears, ineficiencies and imperfections don't make them abnormal, and needn't stand in the way of achieving their goals. I have had a superb mentor, who has had no qualms about revealing her own difficult path to her present success to me, and it has kept me going. I hope one day to provide the same service to my students.

Thank you very much for your page on Blogging. It is written very well. I am a newbe to blogging and RSS feeds, which I can't get to work for some unknown reason. You page was more helpful than I expected.

Thanks very much,

C. Jeff Dyrek, webmaster
http://www.yellowairplane.com

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