Blogging hasn't quite reached the dizzy heights of success that we see with Facebook but the number of people starting to write a personal blog is rapidly growing.

But why should you start a blog? What is it about blogging that encourages people to put fingers to keys and share their lives?

Here are my top 5 reasons why people blog and why you should start a blog if you don't already have one:

Why should you start a blog? - Top 5 tips:

1 - For the fun!

There is no doubt about it, blogging can be fun. You won't be able to stop yourself from jumping for joy with excitement and self satisfaction every time you receive notification that someone you don't know leaves a comment on your post – ok, maybe that is just me, but you get my point.

Unfortunately the opposite can also be true, it is easy to become disheartened when it feels like you are talking to yourself.

The golden rule for getting people to visit your blog and leave comments is to do exactly that on other people's blogs.

So you need to be careful not to expect overnight success. You have to work at encouraging people to find you which leads us neatly onto reason number 2...

2 - For the challenge

Personally I don't fall in to the category of 'I just want to write and don't really care if anyone reads what I write'. Having gone to the effort of crafting my insightful observations that will change the world for the better (OK I'll settle for entertaining or informative) I want, no need to know that it has met it's objective.

To have someone comment that your blog has changed their mind....now that really does set off those feel good emotions.

But all this requires more than just a few spell and grammar checked sentences thrown together with a couple of poorly selected photos. It requires at least a little skill, both in the writing of the blog (picking a great topic, the message and way it is actually written), promoting your blog through the use of SEO (Search Engine Optimisation - the tricks needed to ensure your blog rates highly on search engines like google, yahoo, bing etc...) and marketing (e.g. commenting on similar blogs, using a related Twitter account etc).

Unless you are already red carpet material or some sort of natural social media genius, learning and putting this into practice to get results is going to require continual research and effort and hence you get the joy of the challenge.

3 - For the therapeutic benefits

It is often said that a problem shared is a problem halved. Well if that is true, imagine the benefits of announcing it to the world. A large number of blogs are created purely for the purpose of sharing the trials of your life, be it your struggles as a single parent or as a terminally ill patient.

People who blog for the therapeutic benefits often end up getting great satisfaction and comfort from helping their readers.

How Blogging Saved My Expat Life is a great example of how blogging was a real lifeline for someone feeling isolated in a foreign country.

4 - For the money

You can't live on love and air alone and blogging has been a handsome reward for many bloggers. However, if this is your primary reason for blogging be aware that blogging is definitely not a get rich quick scheme. If you are lucky you might get the chance to receive a few freebies, and after a lot of hard work you might even, through affiliate links, be able to satisfy your coffee and cake addiction.

To earn enough to give up the day job is going to require you to become a mini celebrity and realistically only a very small percentage of people that blog have the midas touch.

5 - For your career

Creating your own personal brand however is altogether different.  If you want to stand out from the crowd and prove that you do know your stuff then having a blog that relates to your line of work can be a great way to showcase your abilities and knowledge – presuming of course that you are any good and that your blog backs-up your CV (i.e. if you are a graphic designer make sure that it is a veritable feast for the eyes).

And herein likes the double edged sword. The invention of the Internet, and more specifically social media and blogging, enables companies to perform a search of a potential employees online profile.

Remember the How not to become a Facebook Privacy Victim - 3 Top Tips tip number 3, apply it to everything you do on the Internet and make your mum proud.

Me, I blog for the fun, the challenge and my future career. Whatever your reason for blogging, if I have managed to persuade you to give it a go, the below links may be helpful to you:

• Which Blogging Platform? Blogger or Wordpress?
• 10 tips for personal bloggers

Do you have a personal blog? Why did you start your blog? Do you have any advice for anyone thinking about writing a personal blog?

We all know at least one person who is concerned about becoming a Facebook Privacy Victim and therefore reluctant about using it. Facebook users themselves are questioning whether their personal information is safe. The media also loves nothing better than a Facebook privacy scandal adding yet more fuel to the fire.

So what is the real truth? Are the sceptics right? Should we be concerned and even take the dramatic step of stop using social sites like Facebook to prevent from becoming a Facebook Privacy Victim?

Are you concerned about Facebook Privacy Issues?

This is the very subject of a recent discussion on the StopThinkSocial Facebook fan page, where Niall Devitt from Ireland is challenging the concept of Facebook privacy:

"What does privacy mean? I mean how can someone square privacy AND be putting something on Facebook in the first instance. Surely this is a contradiction in terms? The reality is that privacy is, and will remain, a limited concept online. Put a piece of information online and it becomes public. The question is whether realistically we can expect to control how public that information is? Can anyone guarantee your privacy online? The answer is no they can’t."

Being a discussion by Facebook users, the conclusions could be considered slightly biased as no one was concerned enough to consider giving up their Facebook account. However the following 3 top tips were recommended:

How not to become a Facebook Privacy Victim

1. Check your Facebook Privacy settings...regularly

Facebook does allow you to choose who can and can't see your personal information, posts, photos etc. However, there was a media frenzy when on 9th December 2009 Facebook changed everyone's default Facebook privacy settings to allow everyone, including search engines, access to status updates. If you didn't want 'non-friends' to be able to read your wall posts, then you had to take the action of changing your Facebook settings. There's a well written Tech Crunch article that offers a more detailed explanation of how this potentially damaging Facebook change unfolded.

2. Be selective in what information you put online

Don't put your phone number or address into your Facebook profile. Most people I know opt out of having their name displayed in the electoral register and phonebook, but think nothing of entering their home address and phone number in to Facebook.

3. Maintain your integrity

Erik Qualman the author of Socialnomics:How Social Media Transforms the Way We Live and Do Business talks about the importance of maintaining a set of values when posting content. He uses the following quote from Dan Hawkins, the Colorado Head Coach who tells his football team:

"If your mom can see it, and neither you nor she is embarrassed, then it's okay. But if your mom can't look at it, then it's probably not right"

You never quite know when your status update might get you fired, evicted from your house, or dumped days before your wedding (these are just some of the classic social media blunders identified by Metro.co.uk).

Facebook IS worth the Privacy Risk

So long as you are always mindful of the above recommendations, Facebook is an incredibly useful tool for building and maintaining relationships with friends and family. Frank Bradley of Ireland says:

"My sister and I live at opposite ends of the country and I would say that we interact more on Facebook than over the phone. I've also been able to re-establish friendships that otherwise had gone stagnant, due to physical distance."

If you aren't quite sure how to change your Facebook Privacy settings we recommend that you watch the following short video by SophosLabs:

Do you agree that the benefits of using Facebook outweigh the Facebook privacy risks? Have you, or do you know anyone that has been a Facebook Privacy Victim? What steps do you take to ensure your data is safe on Facebook and other social platforms?