Why Do People Blog?
Is it merely a chance to have an open conversation with the world in the same way you may have a chat with the entire load of customers in your local pub – always assuming you can find someone, anyone interested in discussing matters such as the whether one kind of something is better than another kind and its various implications.
Could it be that the internet allows writers to be creative in ways previously unheard of and for free?
Or, do we blog because we wish to influence a larger audience and perhaps convert them to our way of thinking?
Or, is it just a personal whim and we have no cares about who reads our posts, what they think of them or how many read them? Hand on heart, how many writers have no interest in viewing their blog statistics? I digress – have you ever noticed how some people need to keep checking their mobile phones for messages when it has been in their hand for the last ten minutes and has neither vibrated or chimed, or even their emails (I am guilty of this) even though the icon quite clearly shows no new emails have arrived. There is a psychological kick about having someone contact you even though if it is at work it usually means you have yet another flippin’ job to do! At least I know I am wanted by someone. We care as to whether X or Y numbers of hits have been received concerning an post but, it’s in our DNA to judge and be judged as to whether what we are doing is good or not.
Or is blogging a way to just simply share our thoughts? We need to feel our thoughts, news or feelings or advice about something or someone is in someway important. That is perhaps one of the greatest reasons we above all other creatures developed language.
Do we yearn to be heard, to have a voice in a world where only those with power or money or celebrity are listened to? Is blogging our own version of a recurring ‘15 minutes of fame’? Are we in fact at last able to star in a Big Brother show of our own making?
Or is it the power to inform, educate, and even in some extreme cases to evangelise, that is the reason to be out there that is the draw?
I wonder does blogging also reflect our cultural background? Does the purpose and nature of blogging change with differing nationalities or regionalities? Are blogs in China or the Middle East really mostly focused around political activism while those of us in the West more interested in finding ourselves, an identity?
The answer cannot be any single reason but as usual is a combination or is it?
linzjwood 