December 2, 2004
why do we blog
“Why do we blog”: A list of reasons from 36 bloggers, compiled by Frank Paynter. I contributed the cartoon above to the list.
Why do people blog?
Hell, why do people paint? Write books? Make movies?
Why do people have anything to say in the first place?
And what makes them think anybody else should give a damn?
Should it matter that anybody gives a damn or not?
My two cents: Sometimes it matters, sometimes it doesn’t. Moods change.
[UPDATE:] Steve Bullmer, CEO of Microsoft, says “Blogging is huge”.
“Blogging is huge,” he said. “It brings together the three biggest Internet trends: communicating, sharing and socializing. It started with e-mail and instant messaging and music sharing, and it’s getting bigger each day.”
Thanks to Scoble for the tip.
Sure, blogging is huge. But the barriers to entry are so low, the number of people trying to get a piece of the action is so enormous, there’s going to be a lot of really, really tiny pieces out there.
That may not be a bad thing– it’ll force more people to question what they’re actually using their blog for, rather than just hopping on the latest happy, fun, shiny bandwagon.
Blogging is analogous to the way some people move their lips when they read. No, not like the muttering, unfortunate schizophrenic rummaging through your trash.
Blogging gives substance to a thought or idea that would otherwise wink out of existence. And it persists irregarless of whether or not anyone else ever reads.
It’s better to blog than to write for the drawer. The only one reading your stuff in the drawer would be your mum after a premature death or somesuch. I say get the shit out of the system while you’re still walking.
sorry for the faulty link above
We blog to “be”. I post a link on my blog to you blog and the “why do we blog” blog. I love your drawings.
It might be down to availability of this type of software that has led to this scourge.
Did you know your archives are broken? Clicking on any permalink gives
Smarty error: the $compile_dir ‘/home/sites/www.gapingvoid.com/web//templates_c’ does not exist, or is not a directory.
Probably the problem is that double slash in “web//templates.c”
I don’t think it’s a problem with my environment. It worked yesterday and I haven’t changed anything.
MarkN, of course you meant “regardless,” didn’t you?
Anyway, I think getting to the bottom of why we blog is fruitless. We blog for the same reason we pick up the phone to bitch to a friend about a news story about a politician. For the same reason we journal. For the same reason we gossip. For the same reason we scribble out anything on paper.
We do it to express ourselves.
MarkN, of course you meant “regardless,” didn’t you?
Anyway, I think getting to the bottom of why we blog is fruitless. We blog for the same reason we pick up the phone to bitch to a friend about a news story about a politician. For the same reason we journal. For the same reason we gossip. For the same reason we scribble out anything on paper.
We do it to express ourselves.
MS/MSN just lowered these barriers to entry dramatically by launching MSN Spaces aka MS take on LJ etc. type services that don’t require the used to do anything except submit marketable personal information.
We do what we do because — at least in the moment of choosing to do ‘X’ and not ‘Y’ — we feel we must or should, regardless of what it is we choose to do: create a family, take that shitty or great job, make that painting, write that poem.
Ultimately, one moving force behind choice making is the need to be ‘seen’. Blogging acomplishes potential visibility at the convenience of the blogger. Instant gratification.
Watson
P.S. I’ve saved $2,000 of the $50K required to purchase your collected cartoonworks.
So now self-expression is a scourge? What complete thought police bullshit. Fuck that!
Ultimately the market will be the arbiter. Technology will also eventually provide part of the solution through better link ranking and better culling of ossified blogs.
People’s experience with blogging will also improve their skill at it. Not everyone has a degree in English Lit. or has spent a career writing copy or has ever done anything remotely creative just for themselves.
Has the process of inevitable corruption already started for those blogging from on high?
Oh, and most blogs do suck.
a good 85 percent of those millions really aren’t trying to get a piece of anything at all.
A few reasons.
* Ego. I’ll admit to that.
* The urge to share. Part of my job is mentoring. By blogging technical stuff I extend my reach to anyone that puts the right keywords into google.
* It attracts girls.
Ok maybe not the last one.
Agreed, Cynthia, but I also mean software suppliers as well, and any other “supply side” products you can think of: Conference organizers, blogging consultants etc.
Change your life: write a blog
While I’m new at this whole blogging thing, I think it’s safe to say that Why Blog? is a perennial question amongst bloggers. And I include the variations on this, such as: Why am I blogging about this? Or better