Blogging Deliberately: Rationalizing the Desire to Blog

Blogging unsettles me because I associate it with narcissism. The feeling is exacerbated by the limited reach of this blog. However I have found reasons to keep blogging through introspection.

1. Contributing to the documented collective experience of humans.

The internet brought about an unprecedented level of communication between people and a lot of it is documented. Many people are unaware of the extent but it is safe to assume that anything that has been on the internet is on there forever. I find reviews particularly useful as they help me come to an informed decision about a new product I am considering purchasing. I find reading about others’ experiences helpful because it is more information for me to use in my own life. I don’t want to be only a consumer in these and other pieces of communication that benefit people. I want to contribute. Blogging is one way of doing so that balances the skills needed for entry, the time required, and the potential audience in a way that suits my circumstance.

2. Developing and maintaining skills related to writing.

There are benefits of blogging to me that provide the driving motivation to continue writing provided I set my expectations properly. I am not hoping to become famous though I certainly won’t deny that it’s nice to think about. Probably the most immediate and tangible result of blogging for me is improvements to my writing. If I don’t write I can’t continue to improve my grammar, use of vocabulary, and my voice. Rather than lament a lack of development I want to choose to be proactive and practice by writing regularly.

3. A combination of keeping in touch with friends, journaling, and learning.

I want to keep in touch with everybody in my life but that can become temporally prohibitive. There may also be cases where I have the time but my friend does not. These are cases where having a blog can be useful. Especially with useful titles and headers a friend can understand if a blog post is useful or not. My prior flirtations with search engine optimization also indicate that this is good for building a wider audience as well. Mysterious titles may be useful for self-aggrandizing but serve no further purpose. Additionally some thoughts come out better when written than when spoken in a conversation. There are benefits and drawbacks to both forms of communication and maintaining both lines can be helpful.

In the process of revealing various details of my life from my thoughts to mundane details like a new purchase I am also journaling. A quick Google search for “benefits of journaling” finds sources (many of them blogs!) that claim benefits of journaling. Anecdotally speaking I find that I am better able to process my thoughts and feelings, I have some sort of record I can look back on for future reference, and seeing my thoughts in writing often provokes further inquiry and insight.

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I think that practically reasons 2 and 3 are what drive me to rationalize blogging as useful via reason 1. Still I think that the thought process is valid so I have no problem with crafting an experience that benefits me if it also serves to benefit others.

Now comes the difficult period of forming a habit so that I can reap the benefits.

Why do I blog?

Previously I questioned the value of my posts. Even more fundamental is my reason for blogging. There are a lot of reasons for people to blog. I don’t have any delusions of being relevant to millions of people but if several people benefit I would not complain.

However, my first and foremost reason for beginning to start this particular blog is to create a small but sure revenue stream.

There was a time when I had “pure” reasons for blogging. I had a blog with xanga and this served as a vessel for sharing my thoughts to primarily my high school friends. Back then I had no ideas of making money or even internet stardom with the blog.

My ambitions have changed since then. Currently I definitely would enjoy making some money off this blog. I would also not mind getting a decent readership who I communicate with.

Is that a bad thing? It doesn’t seem like it as along as I’m putting out decent content and not trying to game the system. Time will tell if it works out as intended though.