April 11, 2010
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Why do you blog?
There was this episode of Dougie Houser, M.D. where he begged his dad for a laptop and his dad finally got him one on the condition that he use it to keep a journal. (This was before blogging obviously and I dare say before the internet was used by the masses as a mode of communication.)
I used to keep a pen an paper journal, but that was sporadic. I had to hide it if I wanted to keep it personal. I was always cryptic when I wrote and struggled to read my handwriting.
When I got my own computer, I thought about using it in a manner like described above, i.e. keep the journal on the machine. But then if something happens to the machine or the file, it’s gone. If the machine is stolen, it’s gone. There are ways to secure a machine, sure, and you can even password protect documents, but security can be circumvented and passwords can be cracked. In short, for those reasons, but more because of laziness, I never kept an electronic journal.
I hate social networking sites. I really, really do. I started a MySpace before the site was hugely popular and shut it down shortly thereafter. I got a Live Journal before I started blogging on Xanga. At the time, I used LJ to follow a few people I knew at college, but they didn’t update regularly and I didn’t get the point of blogging until over a year later.
I was on Face Book when it was colleges only and Facebook opened up to UAH. Soon after it went public, I stopped using mine and then shut it down. I think it was December 2008 when I opened my Facebook account again.
When I finally figured out what blogging was and how it worked, somehow it just made sense to me to journal things for others to read. If you look at my early posts, I was cryptic then too (probably still am to some degree) but I found that there is very little I don’t mind the masses knowing. There’s one thing I’ve thought about starting a second blog for on a different network, but that is to be totally anonymous when and if it ever happens.
I’ve never made a blog that’s totally private. Someone has always been able to read it besides myself. There are only two entries I have made private after posting. I never delete a post unless it’s a test post.
Now that I’ve told you, why do YOU blog?
Comments (13)
I love to write and I’m an over-sharer; knowing that people are reading about my life gives me a thrill.
And I can be self-absorbed, so I just like to talk about myself/my opinions.
I also have a journal and a diary (well, I’m on my 5th diary).
Writing’s my thing.
I don’t know why i started, honestly. But now, its the community of Xanga. I have a Blogger journal, but its for a specific purpose, and i RARELY post.
I blog to keep my sanity… And sometimes I blog to entertain others or to get them thinking
blogging is my release. it makes my feels seem more real than just sitting in deep thought…
I really do not know. I was slow to get into the social networking thing, opening up a xanga only after xanga became passé. Since almost no one I knew was reading it, my xanga became a blogging site were I could say what I wanted to say without regard to my professional reputation. Seems I had a need for that
@trunthepaige - professional reputation
You have filled my heart with mirth and put a grin on my face.
@firetyger - took the words right out of my mouth
I was living in foreign countries and I wanted my family to be able to see what I was doing. (I consider my flickr acct. to also be a blog.) This is actually my fourth blog. I stay because I made “friends” that provide me with entertainment.
@amygwen - It’s amazing how close you can become to people you never meet in RL. Just think, 100 years ago, it was just a dream to be able to communicate in real-time pictures around the world. Now we take it for granted.
P.S. I’m jealous of your freedom to travel. I hope to be able to do the same one day.
@mmmmichaela - Blogging does lend itself to exhibitionists.
I blog for a variety of reasons. One is to release stress. Another is to give my opinion to a bunch of complete strangers LOL!! Another is just to hone my creaitve writing skills.
@thebmillerexperience - I’ve been trying to hone my writing for years. I always used to think that creative writing was easy, but I’ve yet to come up with a workable plot. The good news is that it appears I can cover current events fairly well, so the question becomes, “Is there a market for a two-time college drop-out?”
Btw, I LOVE your handle. Isn’t that what a personal blog is all about? It’s about the users experience with the author’s content, named after the author. Very creative!
P.S. Speaking of writing, check out Scrivener. I’ve planned an upcoming column on the tool, but here’s the gist: it’s the writing tool for those of us who can’t seem to organize our thoughts. This is a tool that helps you focus on collecting your thoughts and then sorting them out later. There are several video tutorials on the site and it’s free to try for 30 days. Scrivener was designed as a Mac application, but I get the feeling that there’s about to be a Windows port.
Happy writing!
@trunthepaige - Who’s your boss? I’m going to call him and tell him you’re blogging.