Sunday, May 18, 2014

Blogging

There's a certain thought process going through my head as I struggle to write on this blog lately and it's been a little harder than in hiatus (hiati?) past. It's simply this: Why do I blog? 

It wasn't hard to walk away in times past. School, work, dating somebody. The blog was something I knew only three people read steadily and most of them were in frequent conversation with me. I've had a weird few moments this year where my blog posts readings have immensely spiked, a graphic from my blog I designed has gone viral on Pinterest. I don't know who all reads it now.

Here's a psychological breakdown for why I write blog posts often or go through waves of silence.

Why I blog:
  • It helps my long-distance friends stay connected with me - family, friends, etc... have asked what's going on in my life and enjoy getting updates via this channel
  • To inform, inspire and entertain my friends
  • I just love to write
  • I love the modern digital world that we live in and utilizing these remarkable channels of communications (Communications Major graduate - right here!) 
  • To discuss topics I wish people would bring up more in person - deepening and enriching our level of dialogue
  • To acknowledge the blessings in my life 
  • To share the good and exciting things in my life
  • To document my life - it's an easy substitute for a journal 
  • To share my experiences and let somebody else out there know that they are not alone
  • Blame the branding lover in me, but blogs are a form of communication that help me define my identity to you and myself
  • To remind you all that I'm a human and not a robot
  • To address social issues with my observation and perspective
  • To recognize the not-so-good and draw a lesson from them
  • A form of self-expression: I am highly introverted and I feel like I can express myself better in pen than in face-to-face interaction sometimes


Keeping that in mind, moving on to why I don't blog or neglect writing:

  • I frankly don't make time for it, I evaluate my priorities, i.e...
    • After I signed up for my half marathon, I thought "Well, I could either take this half-hour/hour writing a blog or I could go run 6-miles and beat my running goal." Running won.
  • I have no inspiration on what to write...
  • Because I write blog posts, social content and entire websites for a Fortune 500 Company, a super-creative marketing agency, and a local growing acting company for my job. I love it so much I do it professionally, but...
  • Life requires attention to other activities - moderation in other things, see the top bullet point.
  • I'm a devil's advocate on almost every subject manner - I try to understand where everybody is coming from. I have opinions on subjects, but I don't want to become one of those argumentative people - I don't believe I'm always right
  • The pen is mightier than the sword - so sometimes I write a blog post and think, "Whoa, this could really hurt somebody" or "What if somebody interprets this completely the wrong way?" So it sits in draft limbo. A side effect of being a Public Relations major grad is that you think of the consequences of every word you write.... 
  • I'm a believer that some things are better left unsaid or kept to myself. I'll be honest, I'm a private person and I like to respect others' privacy too for the most part. 
  • Some blog posts don't really communicate how I want you to see me, again, branding junkie.  Or, I don't feel like I can write the final conclusion on something I'm going through because it hasn't been digested enough yet - 20 random drafts currently sit in my inbox, some completely refined and edited too. 
  • Frankly put, sometimes I think my blog can become really superficial - especially compared to writing privately in a journal. If I get caught up in writing to put on a facade, seek out excessive attention, desire popularity or get too caught up in myself then I step away from it 
  • I would rather you get to know me in person than learn everything about me on a blog 
  • Some periods of life just genuinely have sucky things going on and it's a delicate line writing about touchy subjects without it turning into a pity-party or a whine-fest - going with an earlier point, things aren't fully digested yet
  • Facebook, Twitter, Instagram sufficiently communicate what's going on in my life 
  • I'm highly introverted and feel uncomfortable knowing that 30-180 people will read something that I'm not fully committed to 
How do I close this one up? In conclusion, I think blogs can serve as wonderful forums for self expression and dialogue. They connect us in ways we never would have connected before. They remind us that we are not alone in this world. We can vicariously live through another's shared experiences.

I think blogs can also become powerful tools of destruction to feed somebody's vanity and pride. It's a delicate balance, I'm sure even more so for those who seek blog growth and a steady income from it. 

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