On Blogging > part three: why we blog

If you were to attempt to catalog the blogosphere as it exists right this moment, you could devote your entire life to that project and still never finish. There are a lot of blogs out there. Some of them are educational. Many of them are interesting. Most of them just plain stink. Every one of those blogs is motivated by something, although each blog's particular motivation may be different in its specifics. Still, there are common driving factors among bloggers, and most of the blogs you'll find out there are driven by one or more of these common factors.

I. chasing a profit

The classic concept of "fifteen minutes of fame" has been reinvented on the Internet. There are millions of people surfing the 'Net at any given time, and there are even more websites out there than there are people. In the beginning, when the World Wide Web was just emerging from the networks of message boards that preceded it, just having a website was reason enough to be a celebrity. As more and more people jumped on the train, an elite few stayed at the top of everyone's attention, and it was difficult sorting through the rest of the content out there to find something worth your time. Over the years, ways have emerged to focus the attentions of many of the 'Net's users in one direction for a short time. Over the years, those ways have changed and evolved, but only to become more powerful. In the beginning, search engines were a revolutionary new way to find what you were looking for. That's old news though, because in today's world of RSS feeds and podcasts, we've got aggregator sites like Digg and Technorati to turn the All-seeing Eye of the Internet onto your site instantly... and just as quickly, it's gone.

Blogging for profit isn't easy, and some would argue that it's not very fulfilling. While there are plenty of bloggers who make a living off of their blogs, many in the blogosphere frown on those who do it strictly for money. It's often said that they leech off of the blogging community, and lower the overall quality and purpose behind blogging. A lot of that talk is done by people who see blogging as some sort of ideal, and those who don't have such passion for blogging may find their opinions vary. Certainly blogging for profit isn't for everyone, regardless of what you may think about it ethically.

The true test to blogging's potential profitability, though, is the sheer volume of websites that exist to "help" you get rich quick off of your blogs. Follow their advice at your own risk, reader; no doubt many of those sites are run by grifters and frauds.

II. sharing a hobby

One of the most wonderful things about the blog is its ability to give voice to those might otherwise be voiceless. Nowhere else in the world can people find ways to connect with others who have the exact same special interests as they do, no matter how out there or oddly specific your hobby is. Like to collect baseballs? Hey, you're not alone! Like to knit in New York? You're in good company! You can find blogs on anime, video games, coding, geekdom, custom video game reassembling, dog ownership, fonts, and anything else you can imagine. My point is that even the strangest and oddest of hobbies has a home on the internet, and blogging is a great way to connect with like-minded people.

If you're looking for a blog related to your special interest, a Google search is usually all you really need. A lot of people find that blogging themselves is infinitely more rewarding than just reading, however, and the basic requirements for doing so aren't prohibitively steep: all you need is a deep love for your hobby and a willingness to share it with others. Everything else is more or less optional.

III. professional reasons

Increasingly, people are finding professional reasons to blog. This can often be related to hobby blogging, though that isn't always the case. Some professionals blog to highlight the trials and tribulations of their chosen career. Others blog to help other people break into their career path. Still other blogs exist as a way of promoting a company or spreading FUD about competitors or trends.

Whatever the underlying messages, professional blogs are becoming more and more popular on the 'Net, and as corporations begin to grasp the popularity of blogging their attempts to leverage its potential for their own gain multiply. This brings them back up to the first category I mentioned in this post. See, I told you these were interconnected!

IV. getting the message out

Just as hobby blogging comprises a huge portion of the blogosphere, a lot of blogs exist to promote an idea or movement, and blogs are particularly effective at doing just that. Message bloggers' purposes vary greatly in nature; some are political idealists, some are religious in nature, others promote understanding and harmony, and still others espouse the banner of bigotry.

As I said, many different people and groups of people use blogs to spread ideas. 'Net-savvy protesters often use blogs to organize their thoughts and actions. Electoral candidates often keep blogs to promote the platforms that they build their campaigns upon. Many hate-mongers lurk in underground blog communities, using the sense of community and safety that blogging brings to reinforce their own twisted beliefs. Individuals and organizations have begun using blogs as a means to promote spiritual awareness, growth, and harmony. Wise veterans of life use their blogs to share their experiences and insight with younger generations. There's no limit to what kinds of messages can be promoted through blogging, and that applies to the good as well as the bad.

V. because, because, because, because...

Those aren't the only reasons that people blog. Ultimately everyone's got a reason, and underlying most of those reasons is a simple human desire to express and communicate. The blogosphere is an insanely diverse community, but it's a community nonetheless, and for many people, the participation and the belonging are all the reason they need to blog.

Well, that's pretty much it for On Blogging, at least for now. I sincerely hope that you've enjoyed reading this, and that you've learned something in the process. Tomorrow I'll be wrapping up the piece with some final words and a list of all the blogs I've linked to while writing it. See you then!