As a blogger, you are sure to come across people who will ask, “Hey, why do you even blog?
A lucky few can answer the question with, “I do it for money”. A majority of others have to make do with,” I blog because I like to.”
I am sure you like to blog; I am sure because I do too. But, in addition to that, there are some practical reasons why a person should blog. Here I am going to list four of them:
1. To improve your communication skills: To communicate is a human being’s most basic need. Whether it is happiness, or joy, or just a general state of ennui, it has to be shared. Writing is an important means of sharing, and one that you have to resort to often – both in your personal as well as official life. I have seen many people who can accomplish the most difficult tasks in a jiffy, but they break a heavy sweat when they have to write something.
If you blog, however, sooner or later, you begin to love writing, and though there may be times when you want to stop, there are other times when you just can’t wait to get your hands on to a computer so that you can post. Also, when you have been blogging for any length of time, you will see a marked improvement in your writing skills.
Blogging also helps in arranging your thoughts in a manner that they become coherent and presentable.
Have you ever read something really impressive and thought to yourself, “Hey, wait a minute, I had exactly this thought a few days back!” You must have, except you did not realise it at that time. Blogging will help you pen down that thought before anyone else does.
2. To make friends: The rise of blogging is most importantly because of it being an interactive medium. When you write something, you quickly get feedback from the readers. Some of these readers will like your blog, begin to visit your blog regulalry, and even you might begin to visit theirs, if they have one. Then, before you realise it, you find that you share more things in common than you orignally thought, and you become great friends.
Ask any blogger you know and, I am sure, he will have a story to tell you about how he made great friends through his blog. Who doesn’t need a good friend in these days and times?
3. To become an expert: Maybe you are not interested in improving your communication skills, and neither are you interested in making friends. Should you still blog?
The answer is a vehement yes!
When you blog, one fine morning you will find that you have run out of things to say. You have said all you knew. The proverbial pen has run dry of the ink. What do you do? You refill the ink, right?
This is to say that you begin to explore and learn more about the subjects that interest you. There is a source of infinite knowledge – the Internet – at your disposal, and you begin to use it. Soon, before even you realise it, you have more knowledge about the subjects than your peers. If you keep at it, you even run the risk of becoming an expert.
4. To become an early adopter: This one is hard to explain, but due to a variety of side effects of blogging like spending more time on the Internet, trying to spread the word about your blog, having more smart friends, etc. you will find that you become more aware of the latest trends that are taking the world by storm. Not only do you become aware, but you also want to experience these changes first hand ( maybe because you want to blog about them before anyone else does). So, you go on from being a laggard to an early adopter.
So, are you going to start blogging now? If you already do, what is your reason for blogging?
I blog to network. I have met/known such interesting people who had visited my blog and you definitely learn a lot from them. Plus blogging helps to vent my feelings.
Nice post you have here!
Well hopefully all would be bloggers would really start blogs because of these reasons.
I know alot who started because of monetary gain alone but a lot of them quit very early.
Blogging is hard! 😛
As a retired Communication teacher, I second your list of reasons to blog! Bravo!
Blogging for me is an exercise in self-indulgence. I write about Shimla because I love the place. Yes, I’d like people to visit it, but my primary aim is to express my affection for my current “home-town”.
The happy by-product? Several new friends, interesting people in their own right, who teach me a lot.
These are good pointers and I agree with them. You also learn how to conduct research, because before you compose an article, especially an informative one, you should first know the basic information about it.