Why blog?

It is a fairly straightforward question, but one which I think too few people ever actually address. There are many reasons for writing a blog or even multiple blogs. Some are written to convey information that the writer feels may be of use or interest. Some are written to make money, either by demonstrating writing ability, or from advertising on more popular blogs. Some are written as a form of vanity publishing, people who love to write often crave an outlet for their creativity and a self published blog can serve that purpose admirably, and some write blogs just because they enjoy writing and would like to get some feedback on their work. It is my opinion that whatever the reason for blogging, the process of consistently writing creatively has benefits for the writer in terms of creating new neural pathways and keeping the brain generally stimulated. Many blog writers find that there is an element of research in their work prior to writing and that can be a stimulating aspect too. As far as I am concerned, anything that stimulates the mind is a good thing.

There was a point in the history of blogging, and of social networking in general where it was going to be the next big thing in marketing and in creating and redistributing wealth. The internet was seen as a meritocracy that would free up creative people to succeed, but I think that it can be argued that in the majority of cases this is not what has happened. As with so many other bandwagons that have rolled through town before this one was leapt upon by the get rich quick merchants, particularly those already involved in multi level marketing (MLM) or “Pyramid” schemes. This is not surprising as these schemes rely on a steady flow of newcomers to the system to keep generating revenue for those already involved, and historically the issue has been that the primary way of finding newcomers was personal contacts and when the scheme inevitably fails this causes problems. The internet removes these by allowing a distancing between the originators and subsequent “Marks” as people who come in later are known.

In my opinion, many people have become wary of bloggers and social networks in general as a consequence of these schemes and we are left with a hard core of highly popular blogs that are successful and offer quality in terms of content and comment and a periphery of many thousands, perhaps millions of small blogs read by a handful of people. So, what is the difference between the big successful blogs and the also rans? Again this is only my opinion but it appears that there is a small amount of luck involved, say 1% and the rest is sheer hard work and determination, say 99%. This hard work takes the form of quality content written in an engaging style and the associated research that allows the producer of the successful blog to catch the zeitgeist, that ephemeral “now” buzz of what is popular right this second, and perhaps more importantly what is going to be popular in the coming seconds.

The internet is about immediacy and you will see time and time again that the best, and most popular blogs are those which deliver that immediacy of information in an accessible and creative way. Whatever your reason for blogging, for profile, pleasure or profit, there is no replacement for hard work, no get rich quick, no easy route to success, but you can succeed. The internet can be the meritocracy that it was heralded as, the great leveler that allows anyone a voice, but you have to work at it, consistently and passionately.