Why are we blogging? I've previously covered the "How", so here is the "why". Why? Blogs are simply a format for creating a mini-website. This website allows you,the blogger, to write about things, to post photographs, videos, music that you have created, things that have caught your interest. It is your online presence.
If social networking sites just allow people to see what music you are listening to, films you've seen and the like, then that is similar to someone looking at your house. They see the physical side of you, but not you yourself. Blogging allows you to put your feelings out there, to show that you are a sentient human being, with hopes and expectations, good times and bad. You can write about what you see, what you feel about books you have read, or movies you have seen.
The empathy that writing about personal issues (but not too personal) allows people to be people. Instead of looking at the possessions, you can get a better idea of what the person is like.
With forums, chatrooms, and other community communications services, you can interact with other people. It is like a park for people with similar attitudes. With blogs, you can leave comments, and ask the person questions, or answer their questions. It is like a chill-out space. Less noise.
Everything in a blog is customisable, so the blogger has more control over what the reader sees. This allows more control that you get in most other mediums. You have little control over the appearance of forums, as they are community affairs. You post what you post, and you take responsibility for it. You are a 'citizen journalist', rather than one part of a commune.
The blog format allows many types of media to be incorporated, and the list is growing. This allows even more of your personality to come through. If you are bad with writing words, then use photographs or music instead. Communication is the important issue. You have a story to tell, and you need to find a way to communicate that to others. Whether that story is a small story - a bus that is always late - or a big story - being arrested by the police - someone else may be interested. Even if no-one is, you can always look back at your own blog and see what you were thinking at the time you wrote it.
Blogs are timed pieces of your life. They show what you were like at that moment. Isn't that priceless?
This was going to be a piece about the future of blogging, and the advantages of RSS feeds instead of the reader having to search for information, but I couldn't be bothered with that. If you want to see these things for yourself, look here:
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