Perhaps she blogs because she wishes to communicate ideas. Perhaps he blogs because he wishes to express himself. Perhaps all of us blog because blogging offers us a means of propagating thoughtful feelings, which can be shared, archived, laughed at, or even scrutinised with a retrospectoscope.
I am beginning to get a better sense of why I blog. Ideally, I would like to side-step essentialist sentiments by operationalising my concept of blogging, but am unable to do so because of its subjectivity and personal meaning.
Why, then, do I blog? I blog because I want to look back at myself years from now and witness growth; because I enjoy sharing thoughts that may not always be present at the dinner table; because I actively define who I am and what I believe in.
Why do you blog?
Hey, nice new layout
I blog for many reasons, of which include keeping up with friends, keeping track of things I’ve read/done/etc, and getting feedback on ideas.
Thank you!
I agree. Very practical.
As for me, I created my blog in order to rant in structured paragraphs. My goal in the summer of 2008 was to prepare for the supposedly writing-intensive AP English 12 and Journalism 12 courses.
It didn’t stop there. I can usually ramble endlessly. A couple of years ago, I would often copy and paste 15 minutes worth of an instant messaging conversation from one person to several other people. With the existence of my blog, I only use this method for truly private conversations.
I stumbled on this site yesterday: http://blogspot.sharedbook.com/blog2print/googleblogger/index.html
If I were to publish everything found in my blog, I would need 328 pages. If I were to buy my own published book, I would need to pay at least $122.75.
Lately I’ve come to notice that I can’t rant very freely on this blog, which carries my full name as its domain name. I’m beginning to become more conscious of this fact. Does this make blogging restrictive? Is an individual able to rant freely on a blog that identifies the writer?
Thanks for sharing the link. Sadly it only works for Blogger blogs. Keep in mind that if you manage to publish (I mean really publish) your blog posts into a book then you would likely become rich and famous
Hey Eastwood,
I think that you should never feel restricted on your blog. It is your own, *personal* publishing platform. We’re all human and we all say stupid things. As long as there are enough awesome things around the stupid then you will be fine.
Ranting shows passion. If you rant, are rebutted in the comments then admit you were wrong, that shows humility. All these things make you look good, not bad.
I didn’t see your comment for a week because it was mistakenly filtered as spam by Akismet! Oops, sorry! Good thing I looked in there.
I guess that’s something I need to develop: finding a balance between what I’d like to say and what others are ready and willing to hear. Yes, we’re all human, which makes most of us social and emotional animals. It’s great to raise the topic of climate change, which affects everyone; is it as easy to rant about one’s frustration, inner turmoil, and self-conflict when one is aware that such thoughts may be read by colleagues, employers, or even admission committees?
I’m gradually coming to realise that as important as it is to show one’s passion, it’s even more important to display the passion in a way that’s constructive and forward-moving. I’ve been doing some continuous reflection in the past five months or so and have been able to refer back to my blog as a means of self-assessment and evaluation.
Great to hear from you again!
Lovin the look!!!
I actually started blogging regularly way back in 2002. I used to rant a lot and express many thoughts I wouldn’t be able to elsewhere. Some were kind of violent, some were expressions of great joy and gratitude. I then went through the teenage emo phase and blogged privately. An escape, sort of. Then I stopped entirely because I thought the whole blogging thing was for the introvert. I was wrong, evidently.
But now I blog (when I do, that is) because I wish to motivate. Perhaps it’s that one reader/subscriber who will become the next Van Gogh or Zuckerberg, simply because of an encouraging/inspiring/thought-provoking post someone decided to share once upon a time. A 100-word (often more) post may not be all that powerful, but you never know. All you can do is share it and hope it’s going to do some good.
I think the blog medium has created for itself a whole new definition in the past couple of years. Everyone has a blog. Everyone thinks they need a blog. But few are worth the read.
Thank! Clean is beautiful.
Writing can be therapeutic (http://pss.sagepub.com/content/8/3/162.short), which suggests that the “teenage emo phase” of private blogging might be a healthy-promoting coping mechanism. I’ve started a journal lately and am enjoying the thought-dumping process. It’s quite empowering in that I don’t need to be concerned about diction, grammar, syntax. I also don’t need to worry about the image issue, or whether my writing is making any sense.
Yup. Blogging has created a new, grass-roots media platform. Readers, however, must approach blogs with a critical eye.
Me too-I came across some of my old (read: grade 2) journals the other day and it was hilarious to reflect on how much I’ve grown and changed. Events that seemed so big at one point will sometimes fade into irrelevance and when you revisit, it’s nice to laugh at yourself for all of the emotions (ie: panic) that you went through then.
I use my UBC blog as a tool for communication for the things I’m involved with. I originally wanted a UBC blog for the sole purpose of promoting FAACT through documenting the adventures we have, but now that it’s over, I’m going to use it to write about my UBC/academic adventures.
What’s going to be your major?
Yeah, I still do panic writing from time to time
I look forward to reading more of your adventures. Any other involvements apart from AUS?
Whoops! Just visited your “About me” page. Coolness! Psych and Health and Society!