Most of the people that read this blog are bloggers themselves. I have been thinking lately about why people blog, and more specifically about why I blog.
When I started out blogging, I did it just for the fun of it. Writing has always been a great outlet for me, and I hadn't had any way to really express myself for a while. Blogging seemed like a perfect solution. Of course I had a couple of friends who were bloggers and I started out reading their blogs. Reading blogs led to following links to other blogs, and a monster of sorts was born. I suddenly found myself with a long list of favorites and every day seemed to bring more and more of them for me to read.
I had made a personal goal to write in my blog three times a week at least. It wasn't a goal for anyone but myself, since I didn't really have many readers at the beginning of my blogging career. At some point I noticed that other bloggers who hadn't been around much longer than I had were getting tons more comments. For a while I had the whole wishful thinking for 20 comments a day...heck, even getting ten comments when it happens can be a heady rush. All of a sudden I felt this pressure to write material that would be more for my readers than for me. I lost sight of why I started blogging in the first place. A couple of times I even contemplated quitting the whole thing.
I have noticed that burnout is common among bloggers. Many of the blogs I read have gone through times when the blogger was sorely tempted to quit and leave the whole thing behind. At other times people just have other things on their mind and don't have the time, the energy, or the emotional capacity to pour everything they have into blogging.
Sometimes blog readers are less than supportive when people experience a drop in their blog writing, and even worse, some bloggers only appear to be there for reciprocal purposes. They get upset if people whose blogs they read don't come and read their blog in return. I had a recent conversation with a blogger about that very thing, and how overwhelming it can feel to have so many people expect so much of you. Suddenly I felt like being somewhat below the radar in the blogging world is a good thing for me. I am already overwhelmed at my list of favorites and will pare it down every so often, just to end up reacquiring many of the blogs I tried to give up, and sometimes adding even more of them. I would hate to feel like I was only blogging for my readers, and I would hate even more to feel like it wasn't worth blogging if I had only one reader or if no one ever commented.
I will admit that it is sometimes motivating to me to sit down and write a blog post because I have gone several days without doing so, and there is that possibility that someone might be hoping for a post. It is also true that comments can be a great ego boost...I can see why some people get addicted to having a lot of comments. Generally, however, I am blogging for me. This also includes reading blogs. I read what I enjoy reading, and I try not to feel pressured to read blogs that are not my thing. There are certainly hundreds of great bloggers out there that I would probably connect with, but my family needs me and I don't have time for hundreds of blogs. So, while I read what I enjoy, I also limit the number of blogs on my list.
I blog because it makes me happy to do so. Its the best journal keeping I have ever done, and as far as posterity goes I think it shows a better view of the real me than my stale journal entries from my younger days. I hope that I can find joy in blogging for a long time to come.
So what keeps you blogging? Is it for the joy of it? Is it to please your fan club? To network with other people? To examine yourself? Or some combination of any of these reasons? Do you blog for your own unique reasons? I would love to hear about it, but don't worry, I am not going to quit if I don't get any comments on this post!
10 comments:
I blog so my head doesn't explode with thoughts, ideas, songs that get stuck there, and things that make me happy/mad/upset.
And suddenly... all was right with the world.
All of the sudden, Millie said everything was alright
I started to blog becuase the Chicken said so.
Then I continued because it's Teh Fun and then I met super fabulous cool people. REAL people :)
I blog to feel connected to other women. 'Cause I'm shy and reluctant to by myself with people in real life. I also have super crappy self-esteem and like the ego stroking of lots of comments. Also, it gives me something to do while I'm avoiding doing what I ought to be doing. And blogs are more interesting than books to me now.
You have a gift my friend don't hide it in a bushel basket
I'll have what she's having.
I started blogging to keep people updated with Ty's health when he was doing chemo.
It's sort of changed now and it's a way for me to talk to myself without people thinking I'm crazy - mostly.
I do hope this means that you still feel a little pressure to keep Fiction Fridays going. I really do enjoy reading those. And your WW's are great, too.
And I don't mean that in a reciprocal kind of way (I don't give comments to get them - but I do like meeting new people).
For me, it is the history. It is a good way to keep a journal. I only try to blog interesting things because I know someone might read them. That should make my personal history more interesting some day :-).
Keep up the blogs, I like to keep up on my friends.
I started blogging mostly to keep family and friends up to date on what we do and to post current pictures of our growing girl. I absolutely LOVE finding people I know or once knew and being able to catch up with them thru blogging. I think I check other people's blogs more than my own. :0)
...My journal may be suffering because of it though...
hi there,
i popped over here from the buzz. thanks for stopping by and welcoming me aboard. i have seen you around, but have never looked at your blog until today. i blog for mainly a journal of sorts for me. i never imagined doing this would make me journal as much as i do. i also like throwing in occasional odd ball silly things, too. and i never imagined that in journaling, i would get this extra and awesome benefit -- comments and emails from wonderful people who i never wouldc've crossed paths with had i not started a blog journal. it's all good. take care, kathleen :)
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