And so it begins ...

After swearing I would not -- and I meant absolutely not -- jump on the blogging bandwagon, here I am.

It's a class assignment, but I still feel vaguely uncomfortable.

I respect the need to communicate, and I respect the impact bloggers have made in our society, but there's something so incredibly vain about expecting people to want to read my random thoughts on anything from sushi to iPods. Many of my friends are blogging now as a means of communicating with our entire social network without having to go to the effort of actually cultivating relationships one-on-one anymore. I'm fine with that as far as it goes. On occasion, I check their blogs and enjoy their insights. But too often, it seems, I receive a mass e-mail from a friend that reads, "Go check my blog" and a link. It's impersonal, insulting, and (I think) rather pretentious. Where's the gentle give-and-take of friendship? The communal bond of conversation? If I want a lecture, wouldn't I just go to class?

Which brings me to the point of this post -- the explanation of how I got here and why. As a student in a "Writing for Online Media" class, I am one of roughly 20 hardy souls who will venture into the blogosphere for the next 8 weeks or so. The purpose, as I understand it, is to hone our writing skills, make us conversant with current communication technology, and actually have us participate in a cultural phenomenon we might otherwise just be studying. Will it work? Will I become a blog convert, uncontrollably spewing my opinions out for everyone to see? Stay tuned, folks. We're just getting started.

To that end, let me throw this out to my fellow classmate bloggers (or anyone really) what place does blogging hold in your world? Is it simply the modern version of a little girl's diary, sans lock? A way to communicate with far-flung friends and family? Do you ever think about the years ahead -- all those posts! -- and decide it's just too much?