Because it can’t be easy, selling your work. And a lot of people just want to talk and discuss and generally rant - money doesn’t come into it.
I’m a long-term blogger (link in sig, shockingly enough) and I keep my livejournal going for a variety of reasons.
I could never keep a diary before I started my LJ. I tried several times, but I just couldn’t keep it up, as I didn’t feel like I was achieving anything. I’d forget to write in it, I’d try to catch up what I missed, I’d get bored - it became a chore.
With an online journal, it became so much easier. I type much faster than I write, and if you can type at the same rate as thoughts appear in your head, it really feels effortless, whereas if I wrote as much on paper as I do in my journal, I’d have permanent writers’ cramp.
And now, I am achieving something by keeping a journal. I’ve made friends through it, and I read other people’s journals and learn things I never knew before. As far as my own journal is concerned, I feel much better writing in it because I’m writing for an audience. That piece of knowledge takes away my self-consciousness and forces me to make myself write lucidly, write entertainingly, write well. Like pepperlandgirl, I’ve got somewhere to post my fanfiction, too.
So, in conclusion, I’ve made friends, I’ve enjoyed myself, as I do really love writing, and I have a neat, accessible-from-anywhere record of my life.
NoClueBoy, yes, maybe diaries mostly are personal. But I don’t feel like I have anything to hide. Maybe it’s just me, but I take the view that I am a mundane and pointless person, one of six billion, whose daily thoughts and observations are not going to make that much difference to the world in general. If I’m going to bitch about real life people, then I’ll do it privately. Otherwise, my journal’s free for all to read.