I found it interesting to consider blogs relative to older media (i.e. those existing prior to the advent of the internet) which were similarly designed to faciliate communal exchange; the newspaper comes to mind (classifieds or social pages – or even early examples of dating profiles) might serve as primitive examples of individuals being able to create and disseminate a public persona which is accessible to the general public.

For me, the notion of the audience is central.  A physical medium substantially limits the user’s ability to create and share a public persona, but the limitations of print also protect the individual from privacy issues.  Conversely, through the internet we can create sophisticated and elaborate personas but we’re also taking a greater risk by putting out this information into a slightly unknown arena, where the risk of being hacked or compromised exists.

Blogs also promote a greater level of self-reflexivity and consideration of what an individual might share (about themselves and/or their networks), given its completely transparent quality, as opposed to ‘private’ identities & communities which exist through social media such as Facebook & Twitter.