In my master's thesis I explored the motivations for blogging. The findings include self-documentation and self-expression, partially confirming the long-held notion of blogs as a venue for narcissist. Yet, Howard W. French's story for The Washington Post suggests a brighter side than being narcissist: blogs as the Internet confessional.

Bloggers have good reasons to be frank in their own online space:

“With my blog, I’ve learned how to share things with people that are close to me,” including her sister and her 14-year-old daughter and 20-year-old son, she said. But of the 6,271 comments she has received over the years, most are from complete strangers who found her online. “Sometimes it’s easier to write about it to 1,000 strangers than to sit face to face with someone you know well.”

But experts give warning words too,

“I certainly don’t advise anyone to do it. They’re taking a big risk,” said Patricia Wallace, a psychologist and researcher at Johns Hopkins University and author of “The Psychology of the Internet.” People open themselves up to cruel comments, and worse: identity theft, for instance, or even losing a job for kvetching about a boss.

It is hard for some people to be open to others; sometimes it is far more challenging not to be that open. Especially on the Internet.