Why bloggers blog
Donna at Tell Me a Story asked several bloggers (including me) why they do what they do. Here are the responses. Why do you blog?
posted by Infidel753 at 5:04 PM
05 March 2019
About Me
- Name: Infidel753
- Location: Portland, Oregon, United States
Individualist, pro-technology, pro-democracy, anti-religion. I speak only for myself and not for any ideology, movement, or party. It has been my great good fortune to live my whole life free of "spirituality" of any kind. I believe that evidence and reason are the keys to understanding reality; that technology rather than ideology or politics has been the great liberator of humanity; and that in the long run, human intelligence is the most powerful force in the universe.
Previous Posts
- Link round-up for 3 March 2019
- Video of the day -- cultural differences
- Where would you go?
- Video of the day -- should we "colonize" the red s...
- Link round-up for 24 February 2019
- Some brief political observations
- Link round-up for 17 February 2019 (delayed)
- Quick update
- The Infidel is [OUT]
- Video of the day -- the "good news"
God doesn't exist
Evolution happened
Global warming is real
Homosexuality is normal
Aging is a curable disease
The election was not stolen
Everything "spiritual" is a lie
Free speech is for everybody
Humans do not have "souls"
Men can't become women
Fetuses are not persons
Words are not violence
Taiwan is a nation
Pluto is a planet
24 Comments:
Hello Infidel. I blog because it is a way for me to stay connected with people. I treat my blog like a conversation with friends. I post things I think are interesting that I want to share with friends. I love comments and replies. It is a social meeting place for me. My blog has lead me to many wonderful other bloggers. Hugs
I think I started blogging to tell a man I loved how I felt about him. About us. This blog I have now is actually the third one I've had. The other two I've kinda closed because the feeling was just not there anymore. That man left many moons ago.
I blog now because I have opinions on many things and blogging helps me put my ideas together. I keep blogging because now I follow many other people and I really enjoy our conversations in the world of ones and zeroes.
XOXO
My blog tagline says, One Man’ s Journey From Eternity to Here. I write because I am “one man with a story to tell.” When I run out of story, I’ll stop writing. 😀 I have 420 posts in my draft folder. I doubt I’ll be running out of stuff to write about any time soon. 😀
I blog because it feels like I'm putting some of my skills and tics to good use. I have a tendency to mentally worry at things and need to hash them out. Blogging lets me do this in a less-harmful, more beneficially-distributive way than yelling at strangers, while ordering my thoughts in a way that I hope is also interesting to read for other people. I used to write fanfic when I first got online, but as time wore on, I realized I really wanted to write about issues directly rather than explore them through fictional characters, because those issues meant something to me and I could write about them more explicitly and directly in essay form.
I tried at least 15 times to have some sort of written journal. Failed miserably. Blogging seems to be the only thing that's worked for me to put my thoughts down. Due to an ugly, drawn-out work comp case (Where do vampires go to learn to suck blood? Law School!!)I made my blog less visible/searchable and have deliberately not made any effort to get more people to read it. It's mostly for me. And I'm so glad I've done it, I have a running record of what's been happening in my life since 2005.
My biggest regret is not being able to blog since about 1980, which of course wasn't possible but I wish I had a chronicle of my life since then.
I love to read blogs. So many thoughtful people out there. Some who think the way I do, some who do not. It fascinates me.
I blog for the international fame and fortune, of course.
Why do I blog?
The biggest reason is for myself. When I rewrite about topics I am very interested in and have some passion about I want to toss it around, ponder it, and consider it from many different angles that I can come up with similar to a crime-scene investigator or forensics investigator. Asking questions after many questions, then more questions based on what the data/evidence reveals... ask further questions. That's the 1st reason I blog on specific subjects.
The second primary reason is that I have never been a writer, journalist, or essayist. I consider myself an amateur or novice writer with below average skills. The best way to improve this deficiency is to WRITE! Get out there and put into the public domain for any to critique and bust my balls about what and how I write about. Hahahahaha... I do not mind constructive criticism. I know that in time it will help improve my writing skills and style.
So there you have it Infidel. ;)
Heya i am for the first time here. I came across this board and I find
It truly useful & it helped me out a lot. I hope to give something back and help others
like you helped me.
Scottie: There's certainly that as well. Blogging can get us into contact with people and their ideas we'd otherwise never have known about.
Sixpence: That's an interesting one -- I never would have thought of blogging aimed at one specific person. But so long as it served its purpose.....
Bruce: I love that tagline! And I hope you do keep on posting -- you write some of the most interesting material out there.
Vixen: It does seem to be a good fit for you. I used to write fiction too, but I couldn't really connect it with the things I blog about -- it was like a completely separate thing.
Ami: It's interesting that some people feel comfortable treating it as a kind of personal journal. The main things going on in my real life, I've never felt comfortable talking about here. Maybe someday.
I've long believed that while most people may appear outwardly conformist, they really aren't, deep down. The blogosphere seems to bear that out.
Debra: Maybe I'll get there someday too.....
Professor: That's very true. Writing about a topic can force a person to get their thinking about it in order and can bring out weaknesses in one's own arguments to be considered and addressed. Of course that works better when one write about general subjects like history or religion as opposed to just picking over the details of the latest stupid thing Trump said, etc.
Anon: Thanks, glad if I've been of help.
I started blogging as a fun thing to do with a couple of friends who started blogs too. I'm the only one who still blogs of that group. I used to write articles for Yahoo Contributor Network until they shut their doors and while that was fun, some of the things I wanted to write about were turned down. I can write whatever I want on my blog.
I posted my reason on Donna's blog ... but here it is for you and your audience.
Interesting question. I blog for several reasons but mostly because I like to write ... and know that others are reading what I have to say. AND offering feedback. Also, at my age, I'm not much into "socializing," so blogging keeps me in touch with the rest of the world. And I do mean WORLD! :-)
I started blogging when I got prostate cancer. I think that was just an excuse because I felt like sharing my thoughts with anyone who might be interestd. Maybe that is why I still do. I don't share as much as I would like, but after some upcoming life changes I expect to be able to share more.
I've always wanted to write. I used to keep journals on and off through my teens and 20s. I enjoyed reading blogs once the Internet came along, but it wasn't until a favorite blog inspired me that I decided to start one myself. I was like, "I like that! I want to do that!
Once I figured out how to actually start a blog, in 2009, I jumped in.
Initially, I just wanted to tell stories, bitch about things, talk about movies, sports, current events, politics, religion, and my life. As the years went by, all my best stories were used up, my life was on an even keel, but the political situation provided an ongoing stream of things to write about.
But eventually, even politics started to get stale... things that were issues in 209 were still issues in 2016 and I felt I'd already covered them. And then HE came along... lol...
Anyway, I enjoy having an outlet for my opinions and views on the current climate and hope that those who come by my blog (thanks, Infidel, for all the links) find them relevant, persuasive and interesting. If not, there's always the comment section.
Social reasons, I guess - I started blogging just to have a voice in Blogland. I had been reading blogs for awhile as an alternative to books, during the better part of a decade while my dad was disabled prior to his death, because I just didn't have time for anything of substance. I participated in online social circles via the comments, but after my dad's death I felt I had more to say than would fit in a comment box. Lately I've started to feel limited in what I can blog about, though, and I am kind of wrestling with that. I never intended to be mostly writing poetry; that was supposed to be a finite challenge for myself but it does give me a focus so I've stuck with it. A lot of what is really important to me personally and is occupying my head right now is stuff I won't write about publicly in any detail (my mom's decreasing cognition, for example) so I feel rather adrift. Maybe I'm just lazy :) These days I often feel I just don't have the energy to write; it's easier to read what others write.
Correction - I should have said I didn't have time to read anything of LENGTH, not substance! There is a difference.
Mary: I like that too -- I can write about any off-the-wall topic and there's no editor to say "WTF is this supposed to be?" Anyway, between your novel reviews and that godawful apartment building, it seems you'll never run out of material.
Nan: I get that. I don't really have much in common with most of the people I deal with in "real life", and I imagine it's even more that way in rural Oregon (I don't know exactly where you are, but I've spent some time in Coquille and a little in Bandon). There are a lot more people in the blogosphere I can connect with.
Jono: I'm sorry to hear about the cancer -- I didn't know that. I hope you've had better news about it since then.
You seem to have a knack for photography, I must say.
Bluzdude: You've been blogging for quite a while. I'm really surprised I didn't run across your blog until so recently.
I actually find politics more tiresome since Trump came along. Yes, the situation is very serious, but it's just one insane thing after another, and not every new insane thing really needs a posting from me. I certainly can't do anything about the guy -- that's what we have Pelosi for.
Jenny_o: I hope you'll consider branching out. You may find you have more energy to write about more varied subjects.
And I hope I sometimes deliver substance without too much length.....:-)
I like poetry -- well, some poetry -- but I usually can't write it (unless this or this count).
This has been interesting. I feel vindicated in what I said on Donna's post -- bloggers and their blogs are enormously varied!
You certainly do deliver substance - no worries there. My earlier posts were more varied, before I started the poetry challenge. I just feel so uninspired lately.
What do you mean, you don't write poetry - the one on orthography is brilliant! I imagine it took some doing to get all those homonyms so jam packed in there :)
Good blog post. I definitely love this website. Keep writing!
Thanks for the encouragement -- maybe I'll give poetry a try again one of these days. Oh, all the things I want to do on this blog "someday".....
OK, I have blogged. I shall again. Why? Because I hear things and read things and think things that I want to make public. And I can't think of a better way. Part of why I haven't got round to doing it again is not knowing who to Blogroll (a term I just dislike anyway for it is vulgar) because it would (obviously) involve you (why d'ya think I comment here?) but also libertarians to which I have a strong leaning. So whaddya think? Except there is one thing that might be of interest to all (I hope!) - I'm not really that political, really, and that is philosophy of science type stuff. Oh, and popular culture.
But, leaving all that aside... Your (re?)post got me thinking because I don't recall ever reading a blog post asking the "why?" question. Kudos for that.
Because I love to do it.
Nick: I wouldn't worry too much about the blogroll thing. I don't. Some of the bloggers on mine would probably be baffled by, if not actually hostile to, some of the others. There are a very few people who will go all "Don't put me on your blogroll if you also have so-and-so there", but they'll winnow themselves out.
I'd rather see more blogging about science and popular culture than about politics, frankly -- though I'm thinking here of US politics, not being as familiar with the UK blogosphere.
Kudos to Donna -- the question was her idea.
Adam: That's the most important thing -- if you didn't like doing it, what would be the point?
All the cool kids were doing it, so why not me? HAHA
Actually, meeting people from around the world was the biggest motivator. I also love to write, although I haven't been doing much of that lately on my blog. Perhaps the motivation to do so will return at some point.
In any case, I love blogs, the people behind them and the variety of content.
Interesting how many people cite the opportunity for connection with other people. Blogs are a great way to find other people you have something in common with.
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