David Bole’s reply to a comment by Athanasios on his blog made me re-think the very idea of blogging and it’s inherent socio-cultural relevance:
If that isn’t your goal — and it is by default if you write a blog — then you should instead turn your self-expression private and place your thoughts and feelings in an [offline] journal or diary.
Many blogs are personal expressions of intimate thoughts and there is nothing wrong with that, I feel, as long as you are trying to be interesting to people who don’t know you.
If you are only Blogging for yourself or for friends and family, why do it in public?
You Blog in public because you want to be read by strangers and if you want to be read that means you must inspire your readers by providing them something they cannot find elsewhere.
You start by answering the following question:
What do you know no one else knows?
You Blog to share that secret.
In part, I agree with David when he said that we all want to be read, be heard and be accepted as part of the blogosphere. It’s human nature to want to belong. By having a blog, we realize how much we can stretch that wanting. We have our own reasons, motivations and small beginnings. Our blog, in a way, reflects our personalities and in some way our way of living. How we interact with fellow bloggers and with our readers exhibits our ability to be open-minded and pro-active.
Yes, I know, there will be a few bad apples in the lot — those who blog for purposes known only to them; those who view other bloggers as an adversary rather than peers; those who dessuade rather than encourage; those who blog for self-interest rather than inspire and motivate others. We see them everyday, lurking, waiting for the opportune time to chance upon other people’s mistake to concoct their own small victories.
The blogosphere is a microcosm of the social reality we live in. After almost half a decade of blogging, I have learned to be in the side of patience, persevering and resilient, that in my own small way, I have contributed to others and maybe inspire a few.
I must have started blogging at a time when blogging was still generally was not considered as cool as it is now. Back then, it was all about online journaling to me. I blogged because I wanted an online space where I could post my thoughts, even the rather private ones. I started blogging for a few semi-stranger friends: friends from outside the Philippines with whom I could keep up through blogging. It’s still a different matter to e-mail them as e-mail was more for private conversations.
Bole’s idea is right, but only up to a certain point. One blogs not only because one wants to affect people, stranger or not. One blogs because one has something to say. That something might not be worth-reading or not, but that is better left to the reader and the author to judge. i say, blog yourself away and in due time one or two strangers will stumble upon your little corner on the web and find value in it.