Blogspace -- private or public?

I noticed on mamamusings an entry with this quote.

This struck me as very interesting. I mean the content is on a public server, on a public network, published with public protocols. Yet it is private.

This illustrates a couple of things for me.

• Everyone has a different definition of blogs and blogging.
• The "publicness" of a blog is related to the whims and/or legitimate concerns of the blog owner / administrator.

P.S.

In the comments to this entry, Liz points out that "Yes, it's public in that it's made available publicly. But the writing space itself is not public, any more than my personal web page is a public forum." I agree. For instance I would hate for people to post comments with links to obscene material or hate filled writing. (And thanks for the comment Liz, it's only my third so far, but who is counting.)

So blogging is public in terms of distribution and consumption, but not public in terms of the content. It's also probably not a forum for name calling, public debate, or vigorous protest. [O.K. It might be a place for name calling, but only at the decree of the owner / administrator, see Dave Winer for details.]

Perhaps blogs are public like shopping malls are public. I mean anyone can go their, but you can't hold a protest inside of one, unless the mall owner sanctions it.

The tension between public and private is very interesting to me.

Of course, a blog could fulfill other purposes. As I have noted before, it could be for fiction, non-fiction, journalism, op-ed, serious research. See "Blogging is a Container."