Today I thought I’d delve into some reasons why people blog. I’ll be perfectly honest with you, I knew little about the blogging world until I entered in. Now that I’m here in this cyber land of Wordless Wednesdays, Friday Funnies, Linky Love and the rest of the comment-crazed blogosphere; I must admit I think about why. I think about why I’m here and I wonder why you are here. Why do we spend our time doing this?
And so I came up with a list:
« Entertainment – I love laughing at different posts and noticing how creative others can be with how they format and “decorate” their blogs.
« Education—I’m not even sure I can begin to tell you how much I’ve learned about publishing, finding an agent, editing and countless other things in the writing world because of blogging.
« Connection—I’ve “met” some wonderfully inspirational people who feel like dear friends to me in the less than four months I’ve been blogging. We’ve developed a mutual understanding in our love of writing and leading others to God. I still find this connection to be a mystery, but I’m willing to excavate, to explore and to delve deeper into its hold on me.
« Curiosity—this may have been my number one reason for creating a blog and it remains one of the top reasons I keep up with mine. I love understanding people and am curious by nature, so I’m utterly hooked.
« Technology—I’ve found it to be an exciting challenge trying to teach myself about widgets, uploading, adding links and all else that goes into the creation of a blog. It helps me to be current and aware of technological advances and quite simply it stretches my mind and forces me to risk and move out of my comfort zone.
« Adventure—blogging is like rock climbing in some ways, knowing what to write about and figuring out how you want to write it. In rock climbing there is a precarious move that you can make in order to advance higher on the rocks. When there isn’t a visible hole or crevice for you to slide your hand/foot into to thrust yourself upward, you are positioned to decide whether or not you want to make what’s called a “commitment move”. It’s risky (you could fall.) It takes bravery. And for some reason, right now it reminds me of blogging.
« Exposure/Publicity—there is definitely an opportunity to “build a platform” or develop a community of people who are interested in what you have to say by blogging. Personally, as I blog, I hope not only to draw people into my words but I also hope to cause them to think more about their life and our God.
« Practice—what an opportunity it is to discipline yourself to write and post a set number of blogs per week. It forces you to be creative, develop grammar skills and assemble your ideas so that people can understand them.
« Fellowship—I’ve been blessed. I already mentioned that I’ve “met” some unbelievably precious people through blogging. This thing I’m experiencing isn’t just a feel good, make you smile, and tell you all nice things-type of bond. It’s honest, it’s challenging and it has inspired me to want to be closer to God. Now, that is fellowship!
« Bored with TV—I used to have my regular shows. I’d watch The Today Show for good chunks of the morning and I reserved certain hours in the afternoon for popular talk shows. Just the other day my daughter asked why we don’t watch Ellen and Oprah anymore. I told her I wanted more time to write and read. I’ve invested some of that time in blogging.
« Desire to Reach Others—this is my ongoing number one reason for sitting at the computer every day to post. There is just about nothing else as thrilling to me as the ability to stir a new thought in someone else. I get to do that here.
After reviewing the above reasons for blogging I want to know why you do it. Why are you here? I should say no matter your reason; I am glad you are here.
*photo by flickr
You’ve heard the expression; it’s not what you say…it’s how you say it. Well, that’s not entirely true. WHAT YOU SAY matters. It reveals things about you, including your character, integrity and your beliefs.
