So why do you blog? Clearly, blogging takes a lot of time, effort and persistence. Is blogging worth the huge investment of time and effort?
Your answer may be similar to one of the answers below, or it may be different (in which cases please enlighten me in the comments section)
- I blog to share my ideas with the world
- I blog to improve and hone my writing skills
- I blog to connect with other people who have similar interests
- I blog because ultimately I want to be a writer
- I blog to help others
- I blog to share my story
On the outset we may all have our own reason to blog: need to connect, to be heard, to share, to become famous, to help and so forth. But at the very core we are all doing the same thing; we are sharing a story.
The rules of existence are preemptively the same for everyone irrespective of race, nationality, class, gender and so forth. The progression of life from womb to tomb is universal as are the laws of nature except perhaps in the “Curious case of Benjamin Buttons”.
Our experiences are much about similar things and events in life such as birth, youth, love, marriage, divorce, childhood and even death. What makes these experiences different is not the event but our perspective to it. Our ability to view the world differently and color it with our own unique perspective is what makes our stories exciting.
Given below are some pictures I took, of the beautiful ruins in Hampi (a village in northern Karnataka), India. Shown alongside the untouched original picture, is its altered, enhanced version. I cropped some of these pictures and used Adobe Photoshop CS3 to enhance the color. It was enough to give these old ruins a story of their own.
As bloggers not only do we share a story but we are unwittingly leaving our own footprint behind for our generations to come. Never before have so many people been as actively involved in creating information and building history as they are today. In the olden days, writing was considered the domain of the blessed few. This is probably the single biggest reason, why historians have such a tough time, putting together the story of the common man. The ancient historians, writers and poets were paid by the purse of the rulers and the rich merchants. So their art catered to that of the rich and the famous not the common man.
Today, social media is changing not only how information is created and shared but paving the way for how information will be created and consumed in the future. When “Breaking news” happens in the nooks and corners of the world, within a few minutes’ personal stories and pictures start flooding in not from actual reporters but the common people who witnessed it. This is a powerful phenomenon.
News is no longer created just by the reporters working for news agencies such as BBC, CNN, Fox, NBC, Reuters etc. but the billions of eyes and ears that experience these events first hand. These stories are far more exciting, because they have the element of human touch that we can relate to and be moved by. The power to create news and literature is no longer the prerogative of a handful of elitist historians and writers. It is now shared equally with the common man and woman; us the bloggers!
Blogging, is also strengthening the ideals and values that our country holds dear; Freedom of speech and Democracy. Never before could a Josh Moe question the Government, or challenge accepted norms, raise a controversy or even overturn a dictatorial regime. Never before could one reach out to so many people at such a grand scale.
Today, blogging and tweeting have given the common man a loud voice. We don’t have to be famous artists, writers and poets to share our own personal story. We just have to blog.
Fast forward a few hundred years from now, historians then, will have no problem reassembling our lives thanks to the testimonies and stories left by all of us on the blogosphere. So coming back to our original question, why do you blog?
I want to turn the question back to you dear fellow blogger? I look forward to hearing your perspective?
Here is a Ted video where Mena Trott “the founding mother of blogging revolution” explains about why she blogs.
UBeCute 
Love the post 🙂
Why do we blog? The root of why we blog is that we want to share with our loved ones about our travels. We end up returning from our trips but our families and friends around the world never really see or hear about what we learn or experience & so this way they do get that opportunity.
In turn, we have met so many wonderful people through our blogging and now we get to share our experiences past and present with all of them as well.
Just from meeting so many people, it has opened our eyes to the world in so many ways – and not necessarily from a travel perspective but for all different interest areas.
Thank you and again, a great post!!
Thanks for sharing. It’s so cool to share your experiences about your travels with your friends and family while gaining more friends along the way.
Thank you for stopping by.
I love your photos. I don’t consider “blog” a verb. I know I’m antediluvian, but I consider it simply writing. I’m doing this blog because I read in a book (not a very good book or even a wise one) that keeping a public blog on WordPress was a good way to build a platform for a self-published novel. So far, I’d say, that was a false promise BUT I’ve enjoyed the experience otherwise. It’s an interesting laboratory for evaluating one’s audience and, I’d say, learning about one’s self. I’ve kept personal blogs for nearly a decade and occasionally I raid one (if I really hate the daily prompt or have one already DONE that I can plug in because it’s apropos) but the blogs I kept were basically journals. I started that when I ended a very destructive relationship with a very bad man. I have more than 30 actual paper journals all packed into a box and labeled “the examined life.” 🙂 Great post!
I agree with you that a blog becomes an interesting lab for evaluating an audience and more importantly growing oneself. You clearly have a lot more experience writing and managing a blog, since you mentioned you have been blogging for nearly 10 years. I used to write as a child and then stopped writing completely. Unfortunately, I don’t have any of my earlier work anymore. Which is sad. But thanks to this blog, I will be able to have all my work in one place. Thank you for sharing your story:)
P.S. My paper journals date from the 1981. The blogged journals from 2008. I kind of miss the paper sometimes, but I was already typing journal entries and then pasting them into books.
That’s interesting. I feel I do that too. I use the blog as my own journal entries, although I keep it a bit less personal. Thanks for sharing.
Loved the post, I know I have been planning to begin blogging as well, and great point of view.
The pictures are great, loved the “antiqueness” and “rustiness” brought about in those pictures 🙂 Great work!
Thank you Saji. I am looking forward to seeing you new blog as well. I know you will Rock!
I do like the picture called “Haveli” the best.
The fact i held on to from a seminar several years back, 2009 precisely was having monetised blog could fetch extra income even while sleeping. As a creative artist cum fashion designer. It took a long while before i could risk coming out of my comfort zone. Having done that i realised the picture is bigger than imagination. This is a great post and thanks for sharing it
You are very welcome, and I am glad you liked it. I do agree with you it is hard to come out of comfort zone, I am still not there. Fortunately, this blog is for my hobby alone.
Hey, great post! I sincerely adore your images, really interesting shots – I love old stuff, ruins and all that, lol!
Awww thank you so much. You made my day! I am so happy you enjoyed the post and the pictures. Thanks for stopping by.
I say that in my blog “I aspire to inspire” but often found myself inspired by other bloggers and through sharing and publishing my photography, writing and crafts I inspire myself to keep doing what I love. 🙂
Thank you ivyon. I love your goal, “Aspire to inspire”. Thanks for sharing.
You are welcome 🙂
The second photo that you edited is my favorite 🙂 I put “journal” in my blog title because that is where I started with it, and it still is the main reason I blog, to keep a record of my photography. I’m not always good about remembering what settings I’ve tried and what I would like to try differently the next time I’m in a similar situation, so keeping a blog is a way to keep track of that. What I wasn’t expecting was how much I would enjoy looking at other blogs and interacting with all types of people on my blog or theirs.
Journal entry is a good one. I am so glad to hear you are enjoying blogging and interacting with other users. I am totally with you on that as well. Thank you for sharing 🙂
🙂
Wow, I love what you did with the retouched images!
That’s the beauty of Digital photography I guess.
I blog because I am a writer. The difference between being a writer and not being a writer is simply that assertion. I also blog to raise awareness about politics, spirituality, science, society, and art. Furthermore, blogging is a great release for me. I get a great sense of accomplishment when I complete something that I feel is good fun! 🙂
Thank you for sharing your motives for blogging. We really appreciate them. I totally share the sense of accomplishment you mentioned. Additionally, I feel great to know my thoughts and experiences mean something to others 🙂
I enjoyed this post very much. I especially liked your point that news is now being reported by the common man (and woman!) creating a historical archive – what a thought! As long as historians realize that perception equals reality. Many people who witness the same event see different things. But this is nothing new.
I blog to get my work out into the world, connect with others and love the WP community. It is a supportive group of folks and it blows my mind that I now have conversations all around the world without leaving my living room!
those photos are stunning
Thank you 🙂
I blog because I always wrote things on my journey through life.. only in some journals or on scraps of paper. But I write now to just write about anything and everything and to meet like-minded bloggers… I thought I might meet 1 or 2 but never imagined that I would meet ‘hundreds’…. Diane
That’s awesome. Thanks for sharing your story and congratulations for successfully doing what you wanted to do 🙂
I really enjoyed your “Why do you Blog article. I think we all do for many reasons… many of which you pointed out. Sharing with others who we are… what we like… Mine is not as much in the writing as in sharing my artsy photographic side. I love photography and having someone like what I have done just encourages me to go out and shoot more. and more… and…. Then, afterwards I’m able to make the image more mine just as you have done by photoshopping my own personality into the image. I love how you have taken your pictures and put your personality and imagination into them. Keep up the great work. KCinAZ
Thanks Kcinaz for your lovely comments, I appreciate them. You actually made a great point. Whenever I get vistors like you it greatly helps and motivates me to strive on. Thanks for stopping by.
I blog because I want to tell my story, but I also feel I have something to say, and the more people I tell it to the message will find the right person. A few months ago, after learning more about my spiritual gift, what I have to offer others. I noticed that there are specific themes and thought that come to mind. When I speak to others, in many cases the thought I’ve been having, were about the exact question they asked about. Even though I had not asked them about their thoughts, it’s as though there was divine guidance sending me their way. I blog because I want to put these thought out there, in hopes that others that have the same thoughts may find comfort.
Thank you for sharing “why you blog”. I wish you all the best in all your endeavours.
You probably wont get too many -thumbs up- for this but here goes:
Why do we blog? 😉
‘To justify our ignorance…………..’
Before you vote me off the island, consider the points of views where this would make sense. To protect myself, maybe I should say name ONE reason why we blog. There. Much better. lol
Why do. Blog? To record my thoughts like a diary. It just happens to be a public one 🙂