I just have one question for you today: Why do you blog?
Is it:
1. For community
2. To share my thoughts and feelings about my life and the world
3. To educate others
4. To entertain
5. To hear myself talk
6. To piss people off
7. Because I have nothing better to do
8. Because it's like journaling, only out loud
9. To get away from my family
10. To keep my thoughts straight and a record of what I'm doing
So, what's your motivation? Why do you keep a blog?
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60 Crunchy Thoughts:
A combination of 2 and 3. I have learned so much from other blogs, that I wanted to pay it forward somehow.
A mish-mash of all of them. Depends on my mood!
To get my overactive brain to settle down, by getting some of it out...
& to share my wonderful ideas and fantastic opiniond with others ;)
Great choices! I'd say 1, 5, 9 & 10. I'd love for #3 to be in there too (educate others) but I always feel like I'm a little "late to the game" and it seems like by the time I "discover" something it's old news for everyone else (they don't call me Late Bloomer for nothing). ;-)
The feeling of having access to a community of like-minded people (folks that I learn an awful lot from) is a big factor.
How about you Crunchy - what motivates you to blog?
Hmm, quite a few of these things. To share my thoughts, what I create, and more!
number 2. to share my thoughts and opinions
1,2,3,8,10 and a bit of 9!
I started blogging to dust off my writing skills and keep my far away friends informed on what I thinking/doing. Oh, and its a distraction from housework!
Originally to keep track of how I was feeling. There was a lot of angst involved in the beginning. But now that family reads my blog... not so much angst. I don't want to worry them. I still blog to keep track of my feelings and life.
After several years... I feel like I have a bit of online community going on.
I blog to educate, entertain, learn, and be a part of an online community. The blog has also become the place I keep track of new recipes and links to things of interest.
Blogging also seems to help ...most of the time... keep me relatively grounded and sane. And when it doesn't, people still read it which makes me feel a little less isolated.
Why do you blog, El Pollo Crujiente?
Ok, Crunch, I'm a little freaked out by our psychic connection. At the exact same time you posted, I published a post entitled "Why I Blog."
Freaky, no?
And the answer was mostly number 1.
LOL, Ruchi, I figured ya'll must have been in cahoots on this one. Now that I know it was coincidence, I can't get the Twilight Zone theme song out of my head!
11. All of the above
I'd say I blog for all of them except number 6. I don't actually want to piss anyone off. ;)
Originally it was #10. I started out blogging strictly about trying to be green and help the environment as best I can as a mom with a family. So I would research and then post my results for myself and anyone who wanted to read them. Then I made some friends that blog and I have turned it into a mixture of my life and being green. #2.
Most of the ones you mentioned---except for the "pissing people off" part. It's a nice way to keep in touch with friends who have moved far away.
to hear myself talk and (hopefully educate
Spuds
Interesting question. Many of the above. I'd say 2, 3, 8 and 10. I've learned a lot from blogging - from others and about myself.
Umm...all the above except for number 6. I just have a personal blog on another site, and I belong to a lot of communities. I get information, I get to educate, I get to show off. I use my blog to remember my menu each week because my little ones like to erase what's on the white board, I post funny things about my kids for my in-laws who read it. I get to keep up with the goings-on of a LARGE group of my friends, its been a lot of fun...and a time0sink as well. =)
I blog because there is a voice in my head that makes up posts and won't stop yakking until I click Publish. My favorite posts are about living a Unitarian life, but most of my posts are about dinner and gardening (indirectly part of a Unitarian life I suppose).
Mostly 2 and 10. Also a variation of 9: not to get away from family but to have a place to express my ideas and get feedback without driving my family crazy!
I originally started a blog to post my Ikea Hacks, but then started reading all the great info from others, so I think I would say
To share my thoughts and feelings about my life and the world, but I am sure many would say it's to hear myself talk and I have nothing better to do.
I keep with it for most of the reasons you listed. I guess I'm still looking for the "voice" of the blog.
My reason in the beginning was much simpler. My beloved(?) seventeen year old son told me that I wouldn't be able to have a blog because blogging requires that you have, "You know, something like a life to blog
about." So what was I supposed to do?
I like the odd anonymous exhibitionist aspect of blogging... but I started doing it regularly when I moved away from everything familiar and wanted to keep my friends informed about my adventures without having to write the same anecdote in a dozen emails. Now that I am back in the real world, it has gotten a lot more introspective and less entertaining and I am starting to get a little uncomfortable with the people I know reading it.
Perhaps the soul's deepest need is to be understood. "I am here. Witness me. Understand me."
Or maybe it’s just that we’re primates - chimps with an alphabet - and we have irrepressible social needs...
I think its all about having an audience.
To share my thoughts....I haven't been thinking much lately
1
2
3
8
10
I love blogging.
Mostly 8 and 10. I started my blog to keep a record of some things we're doing, and it turned out to be a good way to keep friends and family informed without a million emails and phone calls, and trying to remember who I've told about what. They all follow along on the blog and everyone knows what we're up to. :)
I blog to share with my family back home my life while I volunteer at an orphanage.
Arduous - You are totally freaking me out. Are you telephathic or something? Or should I ask, what are you smoking during your trip to the Bay Area?
For those of you who want to know why I blog, it's for (in this order):
4. To entertain
3. To educate others
2. To share my thoughts...
1. For community
10. To keep my thoughts straight...
9. To get some peace and quiet
6. To piss people off (sometimes :) but you knew that already!
I think it's mainly to entertain, for me, but I also just like the attention. This sounds rather vain and egotistical, though I don't intend it to be, but I like it when people comment on it and I wish for my blog to be read world-wide. It already has a few readers.
3, 2, then 1. And 4 and 10 are great bonuses that come from it. Ruchi & Crunchy, you're freakin' me out - get a room or somethin'!
I just started my blog for a lot of reasons. I have learned so much from other blogs, and have so many ideas floating around in my head that I want to get them down and like the idea that some one else might find my thoughts useful. I also like having the journal of sorts. I was always bad about journaling, but so far I've been much more disciplined about blogging. We'll see how long that lasts.
I mostly only blog about food (emphasis on mostly, since it's not exclusive), but I do it for a combination of 1, 2 (sub thoughts and feelings about food, more than the world in genera), 8 and 10.
Oh, I forgot to say:
Also because it saves me a lot of hard drive space, because I no longer keep separate files for each recipe I create.
1,2,8, and 10.
But mostly to share pictures (especially of growing children) and events of my life with my family and friends who aren't here with me. By doing it in blog form I don't have to rewrite the same thing every time I catch up with someone in email.
Mostly 3 but some of 1 & 2 as well. :)
I don't really blog, I have a livejournal.
But a very large proportion of my posts start out "in lieu of making a baby book..."
Because I will not remember things unless I write them down, and my track record with paper journals is very, very bad.
1,2,and 3 for me.
a bit of everything but mostly so i can get the thoughts out of my head. otherwise they will be stuck in there for weeks on end keeping me occupied, mostly while i try and sleep or relax. but i do try and keep a green theme to help educate others even on my random blabbling posts otherwise it would be way too personal and id get myself in trouble.
I like to write . . .
but all the others apply, except 9 because I live alone.
10 - keeping a record of my projects
8 - it is journaling
2 - sharing but more limited as it is not exactly a "personal" blog
I've been bad at it lately - but I swear I'm going to get some projects done and get back to it. :)
Given that I homeschool my kids and am in the presence of one of more family members for most hours of the day, I'd say that 9 is part of it :-)
Mostly though I like to help others, share and educate. It definitely helps me get my thoughts in order many days. So everything except 6, 7 and 8. I am absolutely not for pissing people off. In fact I'd do a LOT to avoid that. I'm sure I have something better to do, like laundry. Come to think of it, maybe that's why I blog ;-\
Great choices! I like 2, 3, 8, and 10 :)
#2 and because I used to Journal and Blogging is like a journal that talks to me.
Mostly 2, 3, and 10.
I started blogging because it seemed like there were a lot of eco-bloggers on the west coast but not many down here in the south. Things I read on the blogs of people from California, Oregon, and Washington didn't apply very well to me, so I wanted to create a blog that would help people in my area.
But then after I'd been blogging for awhile, I remembered that I really love to write. So that's what keeps me going.
I started blogging as a hobby after we finished building our house. I found my self with newfound spare time and really enjoyed documenting living in our house. I ended up posting about whatever I was up to that day.
Now I find it relaxing and so I continue. It's a kind of stress relief for me.
I started off just sharing thoughts about my work with the people I work with, but it went from there to enjoying writing. What I didn't expect was the community. That's been a great bonus.
What about accountability? That is how I use my blog. Although I guess that is sort of like 10 - to keep my thoughts straight and record what I'm doing. Anyway, posting on my green blog helps me to make the changes I want to make. I enjoy the community aspect, although I think I get that more from reading other blogs. I also have a blog about my son that is really just to share funny stories with family. That one is to entertain.
I started Fake Plastic Fish as a way to keep track of my own plastic consumption and to have others witness my progress and keep me in line. But at this point, it's taken on a life of it's own. I blog because if I don't, Fake Plastic Fish comes knocking on my bedroom door and won't let me sleep. Kinda like a bad kitty... but colder and wetter.
I started actually not sure, but wanting to vent irritations about politics and the environment. however, i have a tiny readership - almost totally friends and family. it's mostly "keeping up with my life" kinds of things, with political and environmental thoughts thrown in.
Well, I started for 8 and 10; I've kept a diary since I was 5yo and blogging is the new diary. But Number 1 (community) has definitely been the major reason to continue!
Yes.
an insatiable need to be heard and a person who always has something to say, an expression - fills me creatively and connection
not necessarily in that order ...
For Hippy Habibi, I want to share my thoughts and feelings about my life and the world (#2) and I'd like to educate others (#3) about living green. I'm also interested in building community (#1) but I need to spend more time on that...
For my private family blog, I write to journal (#8) and keep a record of what happens (#10).
I originally started my blog to keep track of my thoughts and ideas on the Riot 4 Austerity project. Now I'm blogging because I can't afford therapy.
I love the blogging community. Meeting people who share my values has been so inspirational. I really like knowing that there are other people who pay attention to the same things I do and hold similar values. Shared insanity I guess is a big reason.
I blog because I have a very self-serving need to make others happy or laugh. I love to write, and I hope it makes others laugh or smile or cry or just MOVES THEM somehow.
Plus, I like to practice creative writing and hone my skills.
I also write to try to be another voice that educates. I think a lot of education on the internet is one-sided and tinged with lots of opinions, rather than facts.
Mostly #8. I've kept a journal off and on since I was 13. Writing things out helps me to sort my thoughts and see the bigger picture. Blogging has been an especially nice way to find community, so that's been an added bonus!
I've got to go with all of the above! (and for therapy!)
1, 2, 3, 4, 8, & 10!
& probably a few other reasons thrown in for good measure!
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