I Blog Because

I am a lurker. There I’ve said it. Reading blogs for well over a year now, but never actually making a comment, just lurking in the background reading, enjoying, and getting a sense of what it meant to blog. Why do people blog? The reasons are as varied as anything else in life but I think when everything is stripped away and only the most basic elements are left - we blog to be heard.

Existing in a world of remakes and reimaginings it appears that we might have run out of ideas, but that’s the beauty of blogs, they still represent the individual thoughts and ideas of vast collections of people. No two are identical, many similar thoughts, but each one like a snowflake, perfectly unique.

The reason I enjoy reading blogs is to glean that new perspective, to catch a glimpse into another mind, its like seeing into the hearts and minds of people and can be very powerful. Whether funny, or touching it’s the reality of the content that keeps me coming back to read each day.

One of the blogs I read is the perfect snapshot of its writer, a colorful, witty handsome man that embraces life and expresses his southern roots through his daily posts. Vain, a bit self involved, yet charming and very funny you were always guaranteed a slice of wit and wisdom. Over time though I noticed that the people posting comments to his blog were stating their preferences for the kind of posts they liked, whether it be pictures of him, silly video clips or his commentaries on the latest party attended. And eventually over time he began to pay attention. Recently posting a poll on his blog to find out exactly how many readers preferred what type of content. The overwhelming response was for the light bits of fluff and pictures that he interspersed among the truly meaningful posts about his life and struggles, etc. So it changed. Now just a collection of party anecdotes and plenty of pictures of the man himself it’s as if his voice vanished.

My blog only has three posts so far. I am still finding my voice. But the experience has been profound so far, and I look forward to continuing. Even after three posts, a reader of my blog said "you need to post something lighter, funny, not so heavy". My answer: this is my blog, my voice, and I will continue to write about whatever comes into my head and if it doesn’t suit you there are many other "fish in the sea".