This is a follow-up to yesterday’s post. Thank you to those who weighed in on the discussion in the comments. Suzanne made the important point that the popularity of your social media account or blog matters, which I agree with; I’m not commanding or seeking to command the heights of the attention economy. (Hopefully, that means I’m not petty and narcissistic?) I do find it helpful to think about why I blog and check in regularly with what’s motivating me. I don’t think all online publishing (or even most) online publishing is attention-seeking which is why I am still blogging.
A major reason why I blog is for writing and thinking practice. Writing is how I crystallise my thoughts into something that approaches coherency. When I was studying, it was usually in the writing that I worked out what I thought about a topic and pulled vague thoughts into something that made sense. I’ve finished my study now, and around the same time, I also finished a role where I had to write more than I do now and also do some of the messages at an inter-generational faith gathering. Blogging provides a space to practice the discipline of thinking and writing.
The space that blogging provides is fairly unique in several ways:
- It is my own space, so I choose what topics I want to write about.
- Since someone could read what I write, the ideas need to be more fully realised than required in a private journal and the writing more polished.
- But, I don’t need to develop everything fully and can explore half-formed ideas or reactions to what I’ve read or seen.
- If I get feedback or discussion, it can direct in towards areas I might what to develop more fully or clarify.
- It hopefully provides a more disciplined approach to writing and a place to explore particular interests over time. This is why I decided to join NaBloPoMo, to try and kickstart this discipline.
So those are the reasons that I have a blog that is more focused on what I get out of it, but I’m also hopeful that some people might find what I write helpful, useful, or entertaining. Reading blogs gives me a little window into the lives and experiences of other people – people who might be quite different to those I mix with in real life. NGS and Tobia mentioned the hope that historians would regard personal blogs as the personal diaries of previous generations. I think this is an aspect even for readers today, especially when we live in different places. In blogs, I get more of every day and hear a perspective from normal people like me. It’s a different look at life in other places than you can get from looking at the news or books. When people share hard experiences, that can help people who are going through a similar situation. For people who have not experienced that situation, reading your personal story may help them develop understanding and empathy. I also tend to be interested in many different subjects, so I enjoy it when I can learn something new and unexpected or get some good recommendations.
Why do you blog? Why do you read blogs?
Comments
7 responses to “Why I Still Blog”
Blogging (or writing, more generally) helps me process the world. I’ve never managed to maintain a journal, but I really see my blog as helping me to record my history, think through problems in a new light (often based on feedback I receive). I also see blogging as a way to expand my world – think of new things (or think on old things from a new angle), meet new people, and explore the world (there are so many interesting blogs written from all over the world)!
I have asked myself why I blog countless times since I started in 2004, especially during the many, many years when no one else read it. But it just comes down to having a record for myself. Hey, did I read that book? Let me look it up on my blog. What was the name of that restaurant we ate at the first afternoon we went to Nashville? Let me look it up on my blog. But it seems like recently there’s been a real community building around blogging again and I love meeting new people from all over the world and seeing how our lives are similar and different. It’s an interesting question, though, and doesn’t seem to have a “right” answer for anyone.
“Blogging provides a space to practice the discipline of thinking and writing.”
I love this. I love the process of writing and would definitely agree with your statement. It’s great practice (for me especially since I write in a foreign language) and it helps me to think about things more clearly.
I also blog for the community, I won’t lie. I don’t have a huge following (and thank god, I don’t) but the connections I have made through blogging are invaluable to me. It’s been great to see so many people come together for NaBloPoMo this year (after years of just doing it with three other people – ha) and growing this little community of old school bloggers again. It’s given me so much joy and I am so glad to have found your blog this way. It seems like you’ve continued blogging for the same reasons. <3
I’ve enjoyed the community aspect around NaBloPoMo as well, so thank-you for hosting.
This post and your last one bring up interesting questions. I had to think about it, but I blog to make a connection with other people. I’m not sure if I would do it if I thought no one was reading. I was a big blog reader for years before I started my own, and I’m so happy to be a part of this blogging community. This is my second year doing NaBloPoMo, and both times it’s really helped me- I’ve found new blogs to follow, and also gotten some ideas about the direction of my own blog. It sounds like NaBloPoMo came along at exactly the right time for you!
Everything you wrote I totally agree. I started blogging because I felt my every day life was very mundaine and my creativity was dying. I had all the idea. I wanted a place to document the things I did. And it was also some sortt of validation I guess. Since then a lot has changed and I tend to the thinking and writing parts more. I can process things better when writing them down. I even think I can make myself heard better because it is easier for me to write things than say things that are tough. So in a way it is a personal diary but I leave out some private parts. And I love that we build an understanding and develope empathy for other life styles. It is a sneak peak into different life styles, joys and struggles. This is way I blog. And I wouldnt know so many people in real life. I only have my one-two good friends… But online I feel like my circle is much bigger, more diverse and more cosmopolitan of course.
As NGS said, I like the diary aspect of it. I like being able to search and see what I thought of a book or a recipe or if I chimed in on a hot button issue. My mom blogged from 2006 to 2008 (when she died), and I loved having that relationship with her. It was different than a phone call or a visit, in so many ways. I loved that, and I love going back and finding her comments on my blog from that time.
Mostly, though, I enjoy the sense of community. I have fallen away from that in the last few years, only really reading a few blogs, and only having a couple of people come by mine. My loyal few, whom I have known since way back when. A month ago I didn’t know about the commuity that San had gathered, and now I am so glad that I have found this group. I’m feeling rejuvinated.