Is a blog just random gripes?

I was talking with some friends/co-workers during lunch the other day. A one point in the conversation the question came up regarding blogs.

Now my boss to the forth power, has an idea that the only way our organization can survive is by embracing web2.0 technologies. In the spirit of this he personally has started up a blog. I have read it, along with a number of the comments that were posted by us underlings, and it seems reasonable. If they can gleem any new genuine ideas from the comments then is will be worth the effort. As well it has been said that the management is too far apart from the people doing and having a way to get to a directors ear is probably a good thing.

It seems the while people view email in a similar way to voice communication, it is personal, they don't view blog posts in the same way. The same people who would never talk in public, or send a personal email to a manager, seem to be extremely free to post replies on a blog. Possibly this is a 'new' thing and will change as people get more comfortable with the medium. It is an interesting effect.

Enjoy.