Why people write blogs..............

Heaven knows why some people write blogs!
I know why I write mine.

I've just been reading another person's blog, with comments about 'blogger jealousy' and I'm amazed!
How can people become jealous of other people's lifestyles, without ever knowing that person, or understanding the circumstances of their life?
Don't they understand, the world of blogging, with the best intentions in the world, is not completely real?
You only get to see what the blogger wants you to see. Whether it's how proud they are of their children, how clever they are at making things, how committed to their religious beliefs they are, or whatever. You don't very often get to see what they're not good at, what they fail at, how they lose their temper with a loved one over something trivial, or lose their car keys, or forget a dental appointment.
You can't really know a person, or understand them, without meeting them, and spending a considerable period of time getting to know them.
Reading a blog, is the same as reading a novel. You are introduced to the main character, you follow the plot learning as much about that character and no more as is necessary to follow the storyline, and when you have finished reading, you close the book.

I read other blogs because I'm curious. Curious about other people, how they live, what their thoughts are, what they do. But I don't envy them. I only have a few blogs I follow regularly, and those are mostly about things I'm interested in, whether it be motorcycles, craftwork, or whatever. Other blogs I just select at random, when I have spare time to kill.

There's only one blog I read regularly, where I am actively interested in her life-style. That's not to say I'm jealous of her, or her life-style, because I'm happy with my own life, thank you very much. But I admire her free spirit and her way of life, and who knows, had my life panned out differently, maybe I would be living in a similar world myself.

If any of you have read my blog, you would have found that I use it to put my thoughts into words - to cement my own thoughts and reasoning, to express myself in a way that it is not always possible to verbally.
I also post about things I'm interested in, motorcycles, music, crafts, history, and yes, occasionally, I write about things I've made. But not to elicit praise, more to store my ideas, and realisations.

For years now, I've worked in the computer industry, and I've seen computers change from industrial machines to a 'must-have' for every home.
Whilst it can provide great entertainment, and is a boundless source of information, I do fear that some people have become addicted to modern technology to the point where they are in danger of forgetting what it's like to stand in the street chatting to a neighbour, or wandering around the shops seeing and feeling the products at first hand, or whatever. Simply interacting with life outside for real, instead of existing purely in a cyber-space world.

This does not necessarily bode well for the future, because, it seems to me, people are becoming evermore isolationist, devoid of compassion, and really only interested in themselves.