I wanted to have a simple template for my blog, because I primaraly want to use it for my studies, not personal stuff (for that I have my personal blog).
Blogs are often used as a way of reflecting the self, or at least reflecting how we want other people to view us. In that way, the template and addons says something about who we are.
This view could be said to support the voluntairist view to the technological determinism; the individual choose and have control over the techonologies that they want to use, and they want to represent themselves. When entering a webpage, or a blog, you immediatly make up an perception of what type of page or blog this is and the person behind it, and as one start reading that perception could be either modified, rejected or confirmed.
On the other hand the blog as a genre with certain norms and standards, as one has to follow for it to be accepted as a blog.
I think my choice of template would inspire me to keep focus on my studies (or that is what I wish…), and I think the appearance of my blog will effect my writing in the way that I would keep an “academic” style, rather than a personal style.