Do artists read other artists blogs?

Or do they just go to look at the pretty pictures and either marvel at the audacity of amazing talent or mock the un-initiated "to the realities that is ART"?

I was looking at all the blogs I follow, and thinking of all the blogs that I have had recommended to me from friends and I noticed a pattern. Both in me and in their recommendations. They tend to only recommend things in which they believe will help round out, embellish, inspire, and continue my own art, usually with styles either very similar to my or their own work. I, on the other hand, look for weird blogs that don't look a thing like my own work, have a load of writing and usually use materials that are different from my own. I also seem to look for artists that are not from the states, not because I don't like them or think they have nothing to contribute, but more because I see american art everyday. How often can I see what Europe, Asia, or South America (I still haven't found many African or Middle Eastern art blogs, suggestions?) is doing?

Now I am also new to the whole "blogosphere" as well as to virtual connections thing (yes this blog itself is a couple of years old, and I did have another blog before this, but wait for my point) so I have not made many friends online, nor many connections. I am old fashioned that I like to be able to shake someones hand, look them in the eye and spend an evening chatting with them, before trying to be too friendly online. There is a decorum that I do not posses, and my constant annoyance at some peoples inability to use full words and phrases probably doesn't help with my need to connect. That being said I've noticed that there is a shotgun affect going on with your work in the virtual world. Try to get it on as many sites as possible to get more traffic, and thus more connections. What about the quality of those connections? I am not looking to have the highest number of "friends" around, I am looking for a nice thick hand full of fellow artists that I can show with, possibly collaborate with and generally mutually inspire. Is that unheard of in this day and age?

OK so the point of this blog was to question the reason artists blog. Why do they put their work out there? Is it for fame? exposure? inspiration? connections?Are artist inherently both exhibitionistic and voyeuristic? But also to question why artist look at blogs. I've heard of some artists spending the first couple of moments of their day (whether it be minutes or hours) looking at other blog before moving on to create their own art. Is that ow you use your blog time?

But for those of you who only look at the pretty pictures.... here you go: