Meme: Why Do I Blog?

April 6th, 2007

Ah yes, a blogging meme, which today I’m really thankful to have been tagged by Tamar — as I don’t have any other posts ready to go. It’s a simple question I’ll try to answer: Why do I blog?

Credit should be given to the originator of this meme, Rex Hammock, whose post I read while on vacation and thought his answers were pretty interesting. (I actually linked to said post here). He also has noticed that “Why do I blog?” has taken off.

Anyhow, here’s my shot at answering the question, which I think I’ve already made rather clear, and shouldn’t be any surprise to any regular readers of this blog.

Here are some pasts posts that lend some insight into answering the question:

• Some answers can be found on my About Page.
• Getting Paid To Blog: Money isn’t my primary motivation for blogging. Reiterated here.
• Goals For 2007: I ought to look at this again, as I’m doing okay with a few items but for others I’m rather behind.
• Blogging Is Bizarre: Calacanis, Hung, Birdwatching: Blogging never ceases to surprise me part 1.
• Thanks To Guest Bloggers, Less Is More: Blogging never ceases to surprise me part 2.

My reasons for blogging basically break down into this list:

• As a hobby. Distraction from work keeps me sane.
• To learn stuff. I originally started out of a desire to learn pHp and MySQL which I haven’t gotten too far on.
• To make personal connections. Oddly enough, this wasn’t my primary reason for blogging at the onset, but it has since moved to near the top of the list. I’m slowly getting to know various folks via the blog that I’ve never met face to face (you know who you are). I also enjoy reading the comments people leave. Someday, I’ll buy everyone coffee.
• To voice my opinion. Sometimes I see stuff that is just wrong that I feel needs correction or countering. Or conversely, I get excited about stuff and want to let people know.
• As a challenge. I’m into goal-setting and seeing how much progress I can make towards some seemingly unreachable milestone, like 3,000 bottle caps by the end of 2007.
• To become a better writer. Little known fact, I once considered a career in journalism during college.
• Because it’s a natural extension of what I’d be doing anyway. I was checking out websites, drooling over Apple gear, and writing movie essays before this blog existed.

I think one should take note of several items that are deliberately omitted. My primary reasons for blogging don’t involve money, popularity, attention, fame, or ruling the blogosphere.

But to narrow things down to their essence, and answer a simple question in a simple way, here’s the basic gist of it:

I just want to write about stuff that’s interesting and see if anybody responds. That’s really about it.

It would be cool to get some more free swag, though.

Lastly, I suppose I should tag a few others. Here goes:

• MG @ ParisLemon
• Engtech
• Nick @ Tunequest
• Char @ Essential Keystrokes
• Jennifer @ (MissPenName)

You can follow this meme as it wanders around the blogosphere here.