Why blog? It's sort of impersonal while shouting out to the world, "notice me!! me!! yes, me, the one saying nothing much over here!"
The impersonal bit:
People are mostly busy. So if you send an email of the inane thoughts you have had of a day, they quite probably won't have time/energy/inclination to reply with same. And if it's something bigger, then by emailing you are saying "You. Yes you, recipient of this email. Here is my problem. Please think on it and send me a response. I am relying on you to say the right thing and will be mortally offended if you do not". And then they are genuinely too busy or unable to say the right thing, or worried about your reaction, or some other reason, yet you assume they either don't care or that they have decided you unworthy of any further communication.
If you blog it, then you're not usually aiming it at anyone in particular, contrary to the belief of those reading it. Anyone that wants to read and respond can, but if one particular person can't or doesn't want to, there's nothing personal about that. It's safe, even if you have to be generic to remain safe.
The notice-me bit:
Being noticed for what you've written is rather good. It's damned nice when someone who thinks like you or shares an interest contacts you to say so. Blogging allows both, as well as the slim possibility that someone you'd want to read it stumbles on your blog. Of course, there's the other 99.9% of the time when you are entirely insignificant. But still. There's moments that wouldn't happen otherwise.
Other immensely shallow reasons for blogging:
it's nice to see your own words written down
it's nice to talk incessantly
every post is about something you at least cared about at that moment
when you forget things, you can look back at what you blogged about them
That was me learning about traffic volumes and forecasting.
The impersonal bit:
People are mostly busy. So if you send an email of the inane thoughts you have had of a day, they quite probably won't have time/energy/inclination to reply with same. And if it's something bigger, then by emailing you are saying "You. Yes you, recipient of this email. Here is my problem. Please think on it and send me a response. I am relying on you to say the right thing and will be mortally offended if you do not". And then they are genuinely too busy or unable to say the right thing, or worried about your reaction, or some other reason, yet you assume they either don't care or that they have decided you unworthy of any further communication.
If you blog it, then you're not usually aiming it at anyone in particular, contrary to the belief of those reading it. Anyone that wants to read and respond can, but if one particular person can't or doesn't want to, there's nothing personal about that. It's safe, even if you have to be generic to remain safe.
The notice-me bit:
Being noticed for what you've written is rather good. It's damned nice when someone who thinks like you or shares an interest contacts you to say so. Blogging allows both, as well as the slim possibility that someone you'd want to read it stumbles on your blog. Of course, there's the other 99.9% of the time when you are entirely insignificant. But still. There's moments that wouldn't happen otherwise.
Other immensely shallow reasons for blogging:
it's nice to see your own words written down
it's nice to talk incessantly
every post is about something you at least cared about at that moment
when you forget things, you can look back at what you blogged about them
That was me learning about traffic volumes and forecasting.
3 comments:
I wrote this on a blog about why I blog. So now I'm copying onto your blog, in an effort to encourage recycling:
"There's always going to be an egotistical element to pouring out your words to the world, that can't be denied, but for me it's also a journal, a place to splurge out my brain thoughts and splash them onto a page - written fast like you would an email rather than the measured edited prose of a novel or newspaper article. It's theraputic. I may not have anyone in my real life that wants to particularly hear my views on (insert issue of the day or event in my life) but I have my imaginary reader that I write for. It helps me to focus and empties my head of thoughts I don't want to have to carry around. And often you're thinking - oh my - surely everyone thinks this thought - but read the paper and people are saying the opposite. Blogs are every good for outsider/dissident thoughts. I hope to have some interesting thoughts one day, in the meantime it may just be jibberish... but never mind."
That doesn't even sound like me. I tend to comment like an annoying child, making faces and waving V signs. I have nothing more to say. Nothing to blog about. My work here is done. Well done for your bloggage. I find the best bit (and often the best bit about writing) is that you don't know what you're going to say and the act of stabbing your fingers onto a keyboard makes up new ideas that you'd never had before. Some of them rubbish, but with the occasional humdinger.
Q: Why did the Panda crossing never catch on in Britain in the 1950s?
A because they were too hard to understand and so were replaced by pelican crossings.
As has any self-conscious blogger, I have also questioned whether I was being egotistical or silly when I blogged. Eventually you either stop caring whether any reads what you wrote, or you realize that you can't say things to complete strangers (which is what a blog can allow you to do) if youd don't try in the first place. Then you can just do whatever you want and hope for the best!
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