To Provoke Others or Not to Provoke

I have been lucky enough to get to know a few people from the blogging world, and consider them my friends. I got to know them mostly through their blogs. I learned about some of their past, their present issues, and tastes in things like music and books that we share. I find them to be highly intriguing and intelligent people. Even those that I do not know personally, but whose blogs I read, I am astounded at some of the personal things that they share with all of us weirdos out there in Netland. Deciding how much to share is a great burden when it comes to blogging. Typically, my mantra has become "When in doubt, post a meme." Sometimes I wish that people I meet in real life would wear meme t-shirts so I can get a bried overview of them to help me decide whether or not I want to 'read more'. I guess some people can relate with their addiction to TiVo (I can't wait 'til I have one! Go Team Venture!). But that makes me wonder, how much have I been neglecting because it is not accessible to me through my computer monitor? Is it not more exciting to find out from the person themself instead of trying to literally read them? I wonder about how much I reveal here. Do I seem like the same person to those that know me in real life? or do I open up less? The computer and leaving things in public, somehow always feels safer than the privacy of your own living room. Why is that? This post was originally going to be about why people don't receive comments that should, but I think I found a better nerve to tickle.