And I follow some blogs regularly that use those other systems. But I've always felt a bit of disconnect. No matter how much I enjoyed reading it there was always a feeling that something was missing.
As I started leaving comments in some I realized what it was. The thing that makes LiveJournal my "home" instead of other blogs.
It's the threaded comments.
You can have a conversation in LJ. You can respond to each person individually.
If I leave a comment on one of my favorite non-LJ blogs, BirdChick, the only way to know if there are any responses to what I've said is to go back to the post and scroll down to see if there are new comments.
No, I don't expect responses every time I say something. But I also don't like the fact that someone could respond and I'd never know.
I'm not going to not read non-LJ blogs because of this, but I will be left feeling that no matter how cool someone is, I will have a hard time establishing the connections that I get with y'all here on LJ.
This is also why I allow anonymous posting. If someone reads my LJ and wants to say something, I don't want them prevented just because they don't have an LJ of their own.
But I really wish they would get one. :)