Why do people blog?

This is one question I have asked myself quite a few times. The reason why I used to ask this question was not to gain an insight into the common man's thinking, but to peep inside my own Beautiful Mind.

I have come across many blogs, in the first post of which the author confesses to being "a lazy ass and a big procrastinator" but promises to write atleast one post per month. And then he starts thinking of topics to write on. After about 6 months, he finally finds the topic - An apology for not having written for 6 months. Knowing myself only too well, I was sure I would never be able to stick to the 1 post per month promise.

But looking back, I am amazed to see that I have averaged over 6 posts per month. And how did I manage that. This is precisely the question I have always asked myself and which I try to answer here.

1. I talk a lot. And when I'm not talking to someone, I'm talking to myself. But I'm always talking. So everytime a thought strikes me, a conversation continues in my mind which I later publish to my blog. My blog itself is only like a conversation I'm having with my Inspiron.

2. Everyone needs a patient ear and so do I. But while patient listeners are hard to come across in real life, all computers by default are so (except, ofcourse, if you are using Vista which would keep throwing pop-ups at your face). With a blog, I can talk all I want until I feel I have made my point and no one would interfere. After that, its upto the reader to either read all that I want to say or put it aside and go to sleep - and I care not either way.

3. Theme: I don't have a theme to my blog. People write about their bikes, books, music or what-not. But I chose the most generic of all themes - Beautiful Mind, as in, thoughts. And since, one will never cease to think I'm never out of topics to blog on. (Just like the current scenario. If I'm out of topics to blog on, I can write on why people blog and next time, I can write on why people can't find topics to blog on.)

4. I always get carried away whenever I come across something new and so it happened with the blog. I just wanted to write, but not for one instant did I wait to ask "who would want to hear my opinions and what would they want to hear?" This was one reason why I never did stop myself from writing something and I'm still undecided on whether this is the right approach or not. Afterall, I have a blog now but only 7 regular readers after 7 months.

5. Maintaining a blog is highly time-consuming. Lucky me, I was alien to this "fact" while I started out blogging and now I know it's one of the biggest misconceptions about blogs.

6. Another important reason could be my new-found passion for blogging. I wasn't always interested in writing but from the time I created this blog, I have wanted to publish something new every day.

While these reasons possibly explain the consistency with which I have been writing, they still do not answer the more fundamental question - Why do people blog? Why does Aamir Khan reveal everything first on his blog and not through the media - who can do it faster and wider. Why, if I can find an answer to the question "Why?", would I want to come back and blog about it?