Finding Community in the Blogosphere

I am new to the blogging world, only a month or so in, but I must say I am addicted. I love to write about the things going on in our life and even more, I love to read about what everyone else is doing or thinking. The whole blogging thing has become quite the obsession around here and my husband now refers to me as "the Runner Daily Reporter." I have been thinking a lot about my new hobby and what draws me to it, whether it is something I want to keep up with and spend my time on and whether it is a healthy pastime or a new fad that people haven't yet seen the dangers of. I find "blogging" a very fascinating phenomenon that has spread like wildfire, especially with the "mommy blogger" crowd. There are even whole conferences dedicated to blogging that I had no idea about.

Before I share my conclusion, I decided I will give some admissions first.

1. I check my friends' blogs for updates pretty much every day and sometimes even multiple times a day. I can't wait to see new posts :)
2. I am sometimes a blogger stalker! Yes, I look at other people's blogs that I don't even know and I do not make comments. I have been trying to give myself up and let people know I have been reading their blog but sometimes I can't bring myself to do it, especially if I don't know the person. (If you are reading this and stalking my blog, let me know because I am probably stalking yours too and we could just get it out in the open...)
3. I still have not figured out proper blogger protocol - like, my girlfriends and I were talking about this a little while ago, how good of friends do you have to be with someone before you add them to your friends list?
4. Lately whenever I have a spare moment I steal away to my computer and when my husband finds me and asks, "What are you doing?" he already knows the answer, "blogging!!" or at least reading someone else's blog...
5. I love comments. It's nice to know that people are reading what you are writing and what they think about it. I think its because of my own need for affirmation, but I try to leave comments as often as possible on other people's blogs too.
6. Sometimes after I finish a post I get so excited I call my sister or my husband and say you have to read my blog!!

So now that I am out in the open and have exposed my inner secrets on blogging, here is my conlusion. I have decided that blogging provides a sort of "community" among friends that I enjoy being a part of. I am sticking with it and enjoying the fun it provides. Blogging has become the topic of many conversations with friends and acquaintances alike. In addition, I am learning about my existing friends, catching up with old friends and making new friends through the activity of blogging. I think that blogging becomes dangerous when we allow it to replace interpersonal, face to face relationship building, but it's nice to be able to put our thoughts out there and share them with our friends, from the joys and struggles of raising our children to the fun and challenges of our everyday lives. We can share in each other's stories and laugh along with each other about the funny things our children did that day. So thank you to all of my fellow bloggers for the entertainment and sense of community that you provide. Now take a deep breath, publish post!