Idea: Blog + SocialNetworking = Blog2.0
entrepreneur2be.com
I think that we can rewire the blogsphere in a much more meaningful way and extract so much more value. Plenty of opportunities of startups, for current companies, for writers and readers.
entrepreneur2be.com
The post gives an example of uploading photos, and then automatically notifying friends via RSS that new photos are up. Sounds like Facebook, except on Facebook, only my friends could see the photos, not the whole world.
I don't think you solve this problem until there is an Internet-wide system for managing your identity. (Obviously, OpenID and OpenAuth are steps in this direction.)
Plus, I also think that it is psychologically more difficult to start a blog than it is to create a profile page on a social network. With a blog, you have to overcome the "Blank Canvas Fear" ("What am I supposed to say?") and the "Public Speaking Fear" ("I'm speaking to the whole world, not just my friends.") Filling out a Facebook profile and writing on your friend's Wall is a much easier way to start.
http://example.com/unlisted/9vaekw03/
Pass this link to your friends. They subscribe to its RSS feed, etc. They don't have to register with example.com. The tradeoff is that they can easily pass the link along, just as they could pass along an unlisted phone number.
I may not want people to pass the link along without my say so, people could discover the URL by accident...
If you're concerned about the one-in-a-trillion chance that a typo could lead to someone discovering your URL by accident, you could just make the random string longer.
LiveJournal?
By the way, it was called "Usenet", and it devolved under the weight of the commons.