Why Do I Blog?

Darren Rowse at ProBlogger asked the question  “Why Do We Blog?” on Twitter and Facebook and got some interesting replies. 

It’s made me think about the reasons that I like to blog (albeit not very successfully).

I guess the main reason is I like to explore, try new things tweak and see what’s what.  Blogging is just a part of that and at the same time a way of finding new stuff to play with.

Then, of course, there’s the vanity thing.  “Look I got a web site and ,hey, twelve people have looked at it today!”.  I could be wrong but I guess that every blogger, no matter how big or small, gets a buzz from knowing that other people are looking at what they’ve written – and if someone takes the time to leave a comment it’s a Red Bull mixed with ProPlus buzz.

I also find that blogging is a good way of solidifying thoughts.  When you write a blog post you know that there’s a chance that a complete stranger could read what you have written.  That forces you to bring ideas and thoughts together in a coherent(ish) fashion rather than having them floating about randomly in your head/bits of paper/mind maps/whatever.  I think that’s why I’ve started blogs in the past as I find new interests or enter new phases in my life only to abandon them as my interests change or I move through the phase.

So for me, at the risk of sounding like a round of ‘Call My Bluff’, blogging is a plaything, a way of leaving my mark and method of organizing some of the chaos of life.