I'm wondering if the advent of facebook signifies the end of blogging. Facebook, I think, creates an alternative space, where the self comes alive abeit virtually and vicariously through the posted comments, the inter-social exchanges, the photographs and videos. The boundaries of space are indeed reworked when we realise that there is actually no real space, but a thread of databits which we take for real. In defining the self through your posted profile, and whatever virtual traces you leave behind, in living in the perpetual "now" through your status updates, we create an avatar of who we really are. When the chatbox pops up, we believe that we are truly talking face to face with so-and-so and the image either takes the place of the real or becomes the real. This is the hyper-reality that Baudrillard was talking about and it is this very same almost instantaneous response mechanism that engages us and keeps us going back to facebook. Rather than writing out how your day went on a blog page, in retrospect, facebook becomes an extension of your present self. The "is" in most status updates is the most deceptive. You are simultaneously doing whatever you are typing and in that sense, your status becomes a performative mechanism that transform your readers perception of you and who or what you are.

Having said that, a blog is definitely conceived as a much more private space, where greater insight can be given about the self or person authoring the blog. (Although this is a general misconception and whatever you publish online is in fact public domain) The blog is usually where a person pours out his or her personal thoughts and emotions, and the blog provides a space for deeper honesty. However, much as it may appeal to the voyeur in us, because we think we are gaining valuable insights into a person's life, we may find that with bloglocks, or any other form of privacy enforcement mechanisms, this may not be the case and we might end up none the wiser. Still, how private can blogs be? Who is to say that there isn't someone secretly reading your entries from the blog companies involved? But please don't get paranoid, I'm only postulating.