To explain the proliferation of personal blogs as a new genre, it has
been suggested that "the generic exigence that motivates bloggers is
related less to the need for information than to the self and the
relations between selves" (Miller, Shepherd). In other words, people
write personal blogs because they are interested in getting to know
themselves by writing and by communicating with others through writing.
The blog, then, is an antidote for two different kinds of alienation.
On one hand, the blog brings diverse people together in conversation,
expanding what Kate Thomas described to us as the "Incredible Shrinking
Public Sphere." On the other hand, the blog brings writers closer to