Grandfather of weblogging Jorn Barger has written another weblogging related essay: An Internet way of self-knowledge:

The use of journalling for self-discovery is a longstanding and well-studied phenomenon, but traditionally its privacy has been seen as its greatest strength. When you write for the public, you naturally censor and glamorise the truth, which largely defeats the purpose of honest self-discovery.

The discipline of logging every web-article you find interesting and spelling out your reaction takes the journal in a very different direction, because unlike the private life- events of a diary, every weblog-reader can share the exact same experience of reading the web-article, and so know exactly what you're reacting to.

The act of self-censoring also becomes harder to rationalise if you've just read an interesting article, and you find yourself thinking "Dare I admit that I enjoyed this?"