BlogHer - Why do you blog? (Besides the obvious answers of fame and fortune.) And could you stop today? - Comments

I blog to: leave some words

madeintaiwan — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 23:57:30 -0500

I blog to: leave some words for my kids to read later, notice beauty, purge, and connect. I haven't really put myself out there... I'm a believer in being open and letting the natural connections flow. I haven't fit into a clique since I moved to Mexico and back to Vancouver with new family in tow so I don't think I will in the blogging community either. I prefer one kindred spirit to 20 acquaintances... Once in a while, I stumble upon a non-commercial, smart, tender, open, non-judgemental blog and I feel connected. I love that about blogging.

http://watermelonmama.wordpress.com/

Blogging has become an essential part of my well-being

Candelaria Silva — Sat, 10 May 2008 20:57:04 -0500

I remember the day I learned to read and how I realized that I had discovered something tremendous. I feel the same way about blogging. I am a writer and it has helped me own my writing voice. I have opinions that I don't always see expressed other places. Blogging gives me a forum in which to express those opinions. I crave community and find that I've found a community of women from all over who respond to what I say. Without this magnificent tool our paths would not ever cross. It helps me clarify my ideas and values.

Blogging has also helped me become a more disciplined writer. I write every day now, although I update my blog every two days.

Everything in life has a positive and negative and so I don't expect blogging to be any different. I'm on six month in but I think I've found something I'll be doing for the rest...

Thank you for posing this question.

I blog to feel connected

scale junkie — Sat, 10 May 2008 20:00:54 -0500

I started blogging for therapeutic reasons; put my thoughts
out there for myself and nothing else. I never dreamed anyone would read my
blog much less leave a comment but they did, lots of people did and they told
me how much they enjoyed my words and how I had helped them see things from a
different point of view. They said I motivated and inspired them. All of my
life I’ve felt like I was just wandering from day to day, place to place, never
finding my niche, never really making a difference to the world until I
realized that I had connected with people and found meaning in my life I had
been searching for. Those connections keep me blogging, knowing my words touch
people and make a difference to them has made all the difference to me. They
may say I’m inspiring them but the real truth of the matter is, they inspire
me.

Diana

http://blog.scalejunkie.com

Jenn, you write beautifully

Vered — Sat, 10 May 2008 19:14:21 -0500

“I suppose the thing that got to me the most this week when I thought I just could not stand the politics and meanness that is out in the blogging world is the fact that there is goodness, support and love out there as well”.

I am new, and frankly I am shocked at the politics. I started blogging because I started a new job at a Silicon Valley startup, and my boss and I thought that the blogging world would be a good marketing platform for our company. So the start was detached and quite calculated.

A couple of weeks passed by, and I remember telling my husband how much I enjoyed the process of creating my blog, and how much I loved writing in it. I also remember telling him that I love the fact that the blog is only mine – no one can tell me what to write in it. I can say whatever I want and let my personality – good and bad – shine through.

How naïve I was. After a few more weeks, I became emotionally involved. I realized that I wanted more readers, and that in order to have more readers I needed to network, and socialize, and open myself to other bloggers. And when I started doing that, I quickly learned about those things that you and K. Perfetto mention – the cliques (sometimes it feels more like gangs), the politics, the envy, the unfiltered hatred. I learned that I can choose to write honestly, and from my heart, but that even if I always stay respectful and avoid personal attacks, SOMEONE would inevitably take offense to SOMETHING that I wrote and attack ME.

Having said that, I have also learned that while my social life is very busy and satisfying, it is also quite limited, in that almost all my friends are just like me. Blogging enables me to meet people that are incredibly smart, interesting, funny – and different. These people make me THINK. They make me question old beliefs and look at things through new eyes. I consider this a wonderful gift, and I am grateful for that.

Vered DeLeeuw
www.momgrind.com

Only a recent blogger

lexthemom — Sat, 10 May 2008 17:53:11 -0500

I am new to the blogging thing, but I can tell you the past week or so has been enlightening and so much fun!

I found that 1.) Blogging is therapeutic. I wrote about something that had been inside (no intention to reveal, it just happened) and I cried a cry that I must have desperately needed. 2.) I have gotten so much out of reading that other people deal with life & what it throws at you in much the same way I do. Sometimes I do feel isolated, in a kind of "not enough people understand" way. 3.) Laughter. They say that laughter increases the length of life & I think I added a few years this week.

Seemingly selfish, these reasons, but I hope one day someone can get from me what I've gotten from the new blogging friends I have so far.

Why oh why...

CarolynOnline — Sat, 10 May 2008 17:16:27 -0500

Why would anyone basically take a journal and publish it on the web? Other than drunk coeds on MySpace I mean. I have no idea. But I love it and I love that people I have never met will send a comment that something I wrote happened to them too or made them laugh. So I guess I'm just an egomaniac desperate for attention from strangers??? That can't be right. Maybe it's to document this time in my life and my kids lives. They are tragic little monsters whom I love dearly but they do some funny stuff. Someone's got to write it down.

I love your response.

Jennifer Satterwhite — Sat, 10 May 2008 16:20:08 -0500

The fact that you take such a casual approach and started (and stuck with) one of your main purposes is great.

I think you hit on something everyone feels now and then.

"I don't really belong to any "clique" of bloggers, and I'm not going to
lie and say I don't get jealous when I see the same bloggers being
linked to over and over again."

Most of us just need to take that with a grain of salt these days.

~Jenn~

Mommy Needs Coffee | Mommybloggers

Many, many time I've

kperfetto — Sat, 10 May 2008 15:40:45 -0500

Many, many time I've question why I blog. I hate revealing everything about myself and feel guilty if I don't. (A popular blogger recently "came out" admitting that he'd been taking Prozac, and I thought, "Why?" Is it so necessary that our audiences know everything about us?) Most of my apathy is of the "why bother?" variety. I've had neither positive or negative experiences, I'm just another person throwing stuff out there. I don't really belong to any "clique" of bloggers, and I'm not going to lie and say I don't get jealous when I see the same bloggers being linked to over and over again. I know that's not the point of blogging. I didn't start to have an excuse to write as much as to have an excuse to learn HTML and CSS. I wanted a web site, and starting a blog was the easiest way to go about it. I can't imagine not having one, and I think my writing -- never my strong point -- has improved, but I'm not always overjoyed by it.

Available Light & Five Dollar Radio

Why do you blog? (Besides the obvious answers of fame and fortune.) And could you stop today?

Jennifer Satterwhite — Sat, 10 May 2008 03:39:05 -0500

"I cannot say with certainty which of my motives are the strongest, but I know which of them deserve to be followed." -George Orwell: Why I Write, 1946

I will just throw it out there. This week I pulled my blog. Pulled the whole thing offline. And then put it back after a real friend and I talked about it. The whole conversation about blogging and why people blog came up. Again. This time I had to re-question everything I beleived about why I blog. It started so simply. I blogged because I love to write. I cannot imagine not writing. It was a fun exercise in creating. And then came the other things that tend to come with blogging. Some good. Some bad. Some heartbreaking.

Don't get me wrong. I have had some wonderful things happen to me because of blogging. I have met some real friends. I found my literary agent. I have been published numerous times in various publications. I have been sought out for interviews. I even did a great segment on mommybloggers that ran in a nationally syndicated segment on the news. All things I never dreamed would happen simply because I decided to start a little blog.

And I have had the not so good things happen. People who think they know me saying very hateful things to and about me. People who pose are someone you can trust who walk away as soon as you are not of use to them anymore. Friends you thought you could share anything with turning their back on you when something better comes along. Those things happen in real life. I get that. But online? They are magnified.

As I began to go through the litany of reasons why I just didn't think I could do this whole "mommy blogging" thing (yes- in air quotes) anymore- the broken friendships, the mean girls that come out in force, the cruelty of people you trust, etc. - she asked me how it felt when I wrote about my mom. *ouch* The support I received and still do overwhelms me. She asked me how it felt when I wrote about my addiction. *smack* I have been lifted up and help pick up others when I share about my struggles. She asked me what it felt like when I simply got a comment saying, "That was hilarious. Thanks for sharing." *slap*

I didn't get into blogging because I wanted riches, fame or fortune. I got into blogging because I love to write. As in real life, you are going to come across people who are mean. People who will tell you what they know you want to hear or need to hear so they can further their agenda. Those people who are as about as sincere as a lap dance. BUT you will also meet people you can come to really trust. People who will honestly care about you. People who will become closer to you than you could possibly imagine before you began writing online. You will find people who will appreciate your work and your words. You will find people who truly do want to help you further your career. And if you are really blessed, you will find people that get you and who you get that will stand by you no matter what.

Again, it is like life. You are going to get the good and bad. The only difference is that when you get a lot of the bad online, it is your decision whether or not you pull the plug on your online life. And if you are lucky you will still have real friends from that world that stay in your real world.

But why do you blog?

Shera of A Frog In My Soup says:

I love to blog! I love writing, I love getting it all out on paper (you know what I mean), I love recording those special events I want to keep track of. I’m careful not to share too much information, but if you keep your blog private there are ways to do that too. If you’re smart about it and love what you do that’s really what matters right?

Tara of Tara's View of The World shares:

I blog to remind myself that I am not alone in my daily struggles of Mommy-hood. I blog to vent. I blog to share my amazing kids with the world. I blog to keep my sanity. I blog for free therapy. I blog because I LOVE it!

When asked this question, Amy Maxwell of gentlewhisper had an answer I could truly relate to.

Time.

Tomorrow melts into yesterday and soon my children will be grown. Sarah is almost a teenager… She's turning three soon. I know that the next ten years will go by too quickly. Time speeds up exponentially when children are involved.

So I blog. Not because any of you are interested in my day. Or my children. Or my obscure interests in coffee, politics, religion, philosophy or technology. I blog so that I will remember who I was today.

And as I pause to write, perhaps I'll slow down for a moment and treasure my children, my friends, my day.

I suppose the thing that got to me the most this week when I thought I just could not stand the politics and meanness that is out in the blogging world is the fact that there is goodness, support and love out there as well. I have been blessed to get more of the good than the bad. And the bad? Well, that comes with life, doesn't it. Not everyone will be loyal. Not everyone will have your best interest at heart. Not everyone will want to see you succeed. But the good thing about all of this? A lot of people will want the best for you. And when you find those people, they make every one of those bad situations less significant.

Because the good in this world- in the blogging world I choose to belong to - far out weighs the bad.

What about you? Why do you blog? Do you keep on keepin' on when the haters show up? Have you lost friends, made friends or fallen in love blogging? I want to hear from you because I want to know why we all do this. Because trust me...after more than 6 years, it certainly isn't for the fame and fortune.

Jennifer Satterwhite blogs for numerous sites. Her personal site is Mommy Needs Coffee and the group mommyblogging site she runs and owns is Mommybloggers.com.