[drakonka]

A readership is not a requirement for a blog, on your own domain or elsewhere. If you are looking for a platform that will magically throw thousands of views your way just by nature of you existing there, I think you'll be disappointed. I get that some platforms might have more discovery mechanics than others that you can take advantage of "for free", but in the end I really believe it's your content that will get you a readership, not what platform you host it on.

Personally, I prefer self-hosting. Then again, I have zero readership myself and mostly just rant into the ether for my own benefit, which doesn't sound like your aim judging by your post, so my advice may be completely irrelevant.