Why blog?

In yesterday’s Facebook discussion, the “why blog?” question morphed into “why blog instead of ….” that implied other questions: “Why Facebook?” (or not) and “Where is the mothership?”

“Why blog?” does not exist in a context-free vacuum. “Why do I blog?” is not “Why do you blog?” So then, “What is/are your/my context/s for blogging?” Speaking for myself alone and even quoting myself (taglines on Scoop.it and About.me), “community, learning, teaching, advocacy and self- expression.”

Since I am not teaching full time or formally but have interests, projects and commitments, most of my blogs are not teaching related.  Plus I experiment with different formats and platforms. Using them is only way to do that. My why may not be relevant to yours.

When in doubt, survey other perspectives: go search. So what follows is a(n admittedly random survey of the “why blog” sub genre.

Charlie O’Donnell, business/tech, blogging 8+ years, posted this WhyBlog? on his business blog, This is going to be BIG

I’ve now been blogging for eight and a half years….[T]he other day…I talked about what blogging does for me, and I don’t think I’d really ever encapsulated it in a way that I could advocate to others….First off, throw out the notions that a) it takes a lot of time b) that you have nothing to say or c) that you don’t want all sorts of information out there about you….

I’d say the biggest benefit one can get from blogging is brain training….Blogging is also a self discovery tool. You will naturally gravitate towards subjects you like– which is easier and more organic than just asking yourself “What do I like?”…. [A]s a knowledge worker, I think you’d want a brain portfolio….

Lastly, my blog is my intellectual Github account. It’s the social depository of what my brain is working on. It’s open source. You can grab from it, add to it, ask questions, etc. Each post is a reflection of a line of thinking in progress, one that will undoubtedly need refactoring later on. (read all of Why Blog?)

Charlie (lest you start think of him as just another biz blogger) has a shorter, more succinct, less snarky-reflective version of “why blog?” up at the London School of Economics, written in 15 minutes at that

There are too many more to list all, but you can do your own search if these do not suffice…

• Topping the list, Andrew Sullivan’s 2008 Atlantic classic, Why I blog,

• London School of Economics, 7 uses for blogs in higher education 

• Blogodammerung, actually an”Is blogging dead?”post (subgenre of “why blog?”) writes,”Let’s count ways to hurl words at the Web,” listing even more than I would have and touching on yesterday’s topic in passing.

• One version of Where have all the bloggers gone? and another

Back to POT blogging, which overlaps with ed blogging but not 100%. There is no 100%. If there were, what would be the point? One blog to rule them all.

It’s interesting to learn what and where others teach, both out of curiosity and because I’d like to see whether/how discipline and group distribution affect group dynamics.

I use both Facebook and blogs as well as Twitter and have read many iterations of “how Facebook (and Twitter etc) killed the blog” ~ or at least took a big bite out of it but the truth is that blogs are evolving. All are online and interactive but not interchangeable. To speak lit, they are different genres. Taken all together they constitute the new public square. Blogging is that shady corner under the trees where the chess tables are.

Then there are those familiar writing/communication consideration of audience and purpose. Users of each will tend to end up on the one (or many) that suit.

Above all, bring your distinct personal voice to posts, whatever the platform or medium.