Are you here for the writing or the reading?

In my six months of being here in blog land, I've come across quite a few categories of bloggers. Outside of the *experts* with their hundreds and thousands of fans and followers, there's a fairly common pattern that distinguishes blogger-types. Here's what I've noticed, have you any to add?

Some people sign up mainly for the reading. They have their favorite blogs, rush to the new posts and read every word plus all the comments. These reading bloggers write posts, which may be very good but quite short. For them, the reading is more enjoyable than the writing. When they find a new, intriguing blog they like, they're quick to add it to their blogroll, so they don't miss any new posts. They follow more people than follow them.

And there's the non-blogging readers who will never comment or subscribe. Like my mom, husband and son-in-law, who start by reading my posts, then all the comments, then all the blogs in the side bar, and all those posts and comments. My son-in-law came over one day anguished. He had spent 6 hours of his only day off that week reading blogs. Never again, he vowed. Ha, that's what he says.

Then there are the bloggers who are here to write. They post often, sometimes every day, sometimes quite long posts. Because they love to write. They're obsessed about getting new followers/readers, since writers need readers, writers crave readers. What's the point if there are no readers? That's like cooking dinner and no one comes to eat it. These writer bloggers have their favorites too, but they may skim over the reading of posts and still comment. After all, they're here for the writing-- posting, commenting, whatever.

Finally, there's a few blogger/writers who don't read, follow anyone, make any comments or respond to the comments that others make on their posts. A minority, since most bloggers like to interact with others. Some of these types might have followers and commenters, but not as many as they could have if they were more interactive. They're like a rare species of bird that no one ever sees outside its normal habitat.

These are the main categories I've noticed in the blogging world. What kind of blogger are you? Are your here for the writing or the reading? Or are you a nicely balanced blend of both? Or perhaps some entirely new species altogether?