Blogs Re-Visited

This is going to be a rambling post. So if you're looking for something of substance, this is not for you.

For those readers who have continued reading, I am going to re-visit the topic of "Blogs". My very first post was about this and almost two years later, I'm again pondering the topic.

I've become a "blogger". I used to check my emails in the morning (not that I ever got very many). Now I check my blogs.

I love to read blogs:

a) of family (brothers, cousins, uncles, aunts, etc). I love being able to stay up-to-date with their lives. I love being able to see pictures of families as they grow up.

b) of friends. I really like staying in touch with people and blogs allow me to know what's going on with people from my past. I like to know that other mothers my age also have crazy days. I like to know that people do fun things. I like hearing about books that friends have read. I like not having to remember to email/call/write the people, because honestly, I'd forget or procrastinate.

c) of random blogs that I've found when I've been "blogging". This includes the blogs I've found when looking at friends' blogs, clicking on their friend's blog, then their friend's blog, etc. Some of these random blogs are inspirational, others humorous, and still others educational. I love the variety.

But I still wonder about the purpose. I use it to keep people up to date with my life. I think it's kind of strange when people I don't know read it. But I do that with other people's blogs. Am I strange? My kiddos each have a private blog. Their's are to let grandparents, uncles, and aunts see their pictures and hear about their lives. I consider them online scrapbooks/baby books, because I know that I won't get real scrapbooks done past their first year, and then it's only the bare basics. I do, of course, have my photo blog for my favorite pictures. It makes me feel like a professional. Maybe someday...

My big wonderment, though, is about conventions for bloggers. Can anyone explain this to me? I understand conventions for groups of workers (education, dentistry, computers, etc). But blogging? Maybe I don't understand blogging after all...

P.S. Thanks to all who voted in my recent poll! You're all my heros/heroines!