Continuing to evaluate myself…which isn’t a bad thing. I’m a new blogger and I need not only to define my goals, but to ask and answer some important questions. But is that something I need to do simply because I’m new at blogging? When I’m more experienced can I (or rather, should I) stop asking these questions? Probably not.
Why am I blogging? Is it a wise use of my time? What are my motives? Am I doing this for myself, for others, or some combination of the two? Is there value in it even if it’s only for myself? What do I hope to accomplish? How can I facilitate more interaction with others?
I’m thankful that I have some friends helping me sort things out. I received a number of helpful comments in response to a previous post. One of the commenters, David Porter, pointed out his own blogging mission statement. It’s very helpful and I recommend it highly.
Tony Kummer also makes a helpful suggestion–view every post as a potential conversation, and not as a publication. Blogging should foster interaction with others and build community.
Well, I’m not sure how much community it built, but this post certainly generated plenty of interaction!
So, to my friends David and Tony, thank you for helping me as I continue to try to sort things out.
Barry Wallace
theoparadox
pijohnson
September 9, 2008 at 8:22 pm |
You are most welcome my brother.
September 9, 2008 at 9:42 pm |
Barry: I think you will always question why you blog to some extent. And I think that is a good thing. You never want to take this for granted; you want to stay fresh, you want to maintain relevance and focus, you want to be of interest–to others and in introspectively.
If the question pops into your head now and then as to why you are doing this, consider it a sanity check that you are staying true to your purpose for blogging; not self doubt.
September 10, 2008 at 9:27 am |
@ Barry: I think you’re on the right track to ask these questions. I think my experiences blogging would have been far better if I had some kind of purpose in it from the beginning. Otherwise it just becomes an intellectual diversion, which is ok if that’s your purpose.
September 10, 2008 at 2:26 pm |
Andy, David, and Tony,
Thanks again for your advice and friendship.
September 10, 2008 at 8:40 pm |
just to say Welcome to Blogosphere !!