We all know the drill – every year, someone declares blogging is dead and suddenly everyone in the blogosphere throws a hissy fit, waving their collective arms and screaming – nu uh! (Def: nu-uh: The sound made when one is trying to decline the truth or existence of an action or statement. Usually utilized by children.) Want to see some irony? Google (or Live Search…ahem…) “blogging is dead.” What do you see? Do you see the article in the November issue of Wired telling us to delete our blogs, they don’t matter aymore? No. You see blog entries, all responding to the claim. Ah yes, surely a sign of the terminal illness blogging is so aptly diagnosed with, year after year.
Snarkiness aside, I think most of us agree blogging is anything but dead. Sure you have to wade through so much more to get to the good stuff, but there is still good stuff. For some it may be quantity over quality but I read plenty of blogs that are chock full of informative and interesting content on a pretty regular basis.
This leads me to my question of the day – why do people blog? What makes someone sign onto WordPress or Blogger, create a name and start typing away? And what does it take to have a successful blog? And what does it having a successful blog mean anyway?
I’ve got some theories but I don’t think it’s a one size fits all scenario. Caster, for example, started this blog as a way to exercise our creative writing skills and give our clients and industry friends a taste of our personalities in one daily dose. Green Life Smart Life started its blog as a resource for all things green and as a way to provide updates on the project and construction of their home. Some blogs serve as news sources, some as gossip sites, some to connect a community based around common interests, some just simply to journal.
I used to have a public personal blog. And I suspect I will again soon though it will serve a bit of a different purpose. I still have a personal blog, but it is anonymous and I’m not even sure where the web traffic comes from. It’s a different type of outlet for me, a way to journal without the paper and pencil or worrying about my hard drive crashing.
So tell me, do you blog? If so, why? And more importantly, why do you read this blog?
Posted by: Ashley / ashleyatcaster on Twitter
Stumble It!
