Please excuse my ignorance but I am very curious why people blog. It seems that some here spent hours blogging online and they constantly have to update their blogs to keep them fresh.

I am curious what are the benefits of blogging. Are the bloggers getting paid some how or they are just doing it for fun.

Thanks.

I think for some it is for vanity or an attempt to be recognized. For others it is for sharing of information with friends and also as an outlet to pour out their frustrations. Of course not forgetting those who blog purely for SEO or for putting adsense in them to make a quick buck.

Everyone has their own reasons for blogging.

Some do it for fun, some do it to make money, even others do it to just rant and piss people off in the process .

I blog mainly to promote your business, share ideas or for the fun of it ...

I do it for fun, and more recently, to make a little money on the side.

Different bloggers have different reasons. Some blog just to have a platform for the things they want to say.

In a marketing context there are a variety of reasons to blog. It can help make your company more transparent. It's hard to get to know a company by reading their products or services pages, much easier to get to know the real people behind the company by reading their blog posts.

You'll hear people talk about the importance of links in search results. There's little reason to link to someone's services pages. Informational content is much easier to link to so some people will blog to create more informational content.

A blog done right can grow a loyal readership who subscribe to the blog. Loyal readers link to you more, talk about you more, buy from you more, etc.

Blogs can keep people on your site and bring them back again.

Some blogs do well enough attracting an audience that the bloggers can make a good living just from the blog.

There are a lot of reasons why someone might blog. A blog won't automatically make your site successful, but it gives you opportunities for success you might not have without using one. A blog done right can help you in many ways.

^
Best answer I've seen so far. (including answers from other forums)

I started blogging when I was a teenager. And I did it for fun. I have a lot of things to say (at 16, who didn't have something to say about everything?) and I wanted my words to reach a wider audience. A bigger one aside from the ones our school newspaper gets. I bet all old-school bloggers started out like that. It was only a little bit recently that people started blogging for the money.

You can say bloging is only share to personal thought, experience and ideas.

Some people blog to give their opinion, inform, create conversation about a topic, learn or express themselves.

I blog mainly for money. then I found that a blog can be a good things to represent myself on the Internet. I feel happy the time I make friends through my blog. But now I blog because it is my habit.

Hii, Let me tell you why i blog, I was very unsocial creature who dont like to be with people around this made me nervous in facing others when time comes, i had manythings in my mind and heart to come out but i couldn't because of nervousness. I also wanted others to know me by my work and words, thats all reasons put me into blogging.
When i write i can take out that nervousness and can also take out what comes in mind. By writing many of those friends who thought something different about me changed there thoughts. I got an new introduction of myself by blogging. And thats the first reason why i do blog. Now i call myself e-social animal.

i blog to promote my site and for fun...

some is getting paid some is just a hobby of them.....other's are using their blog as their own personal diary online that whenever they wanna write a story of their life they can access it everywhere....can of course for others to see...

I mainly do blogging just to promote my site as well as to share my ideas.
It's also close to my interest so I really enjoy doing it.

oops- duplicated my post, as the screen froze after I hit submit (and I didn't think it saved).

I moved away from my family and friends, so rather than send e-mails updates with a recipient list a mile long, I thought I'd start a blog where I could post about my adventures.

I blog on my personal blog to express or post anything I wanted. On the other hand, I blog on my other blogs for promotion and money.

I Blog to share the knowledege of my Internet experiences.

Some do it for fun. But most do it either to get links to their own websites or they own a blog and try to get money from advertisers on the site.

Yeah some people just blog because it's fun, also you can advertise on the blog to your other websites or have people pay to advertise on your website. Also some people can pay you if you review their product on their blog.