Why Does Anyone Blog?

Blogging usually accompanies a message that needs to be delivered.  Or in response to an impetus to find a message to deliver.

In the case of my friend, it was her job to curate a platform for delivery of the message, the Belmont Shore Patch.  For me, it was a desire to help my friend, and to explore writing.  If you like to write, there are many opportunities to do so today.  I’d always written in response to a project at school or at home, or an assignment in school or at work.  Never for fun.  Never in response to something from inside me.  I was not that public person and in fact, when the concept of blogging first became popular, I always wondered who would choose to be so public?

I have grown to love the medium as a mechanism for sharing thoughts.  With whom am I sharing those thoughts?  Well… with you, and with anyone else who might read this.  Not everyone will agree with my thoughts and ideas, but I always think that it’s a big world, and if I think, believe or want to do something, then someone else will.

I know that my writing would not pass muster in many environments.   This is the beauty of a blog.  I’m in charge.  There’s so little that each of us is in control of today.  Well, there’s the blog.

Which brings me to self-regulation.  This is the internet.  It’s an open environment to which anyone with a  browser has access.  My recommendation to you is this.  If you blog, remember that your words are open to everyone, and once put up, might not be able to be taken down.  I try to stay positive and yes, I hold some thoughts back that might be counter productive to the image and message I try to present.  There, I’ve said it.   My blog is regulated.  By me.

It occurs to me that I haven’t yet begun to share the reasons one might care to blog.

#1/ It gives you an audience.  Although you might not know the size of your audience, it provides the possibility that someone will read your writing.

#2/ You have a message to share.  This is an amplified version of #1.  A specific message that needs to be delivered could reach audiences to which you don’t otherwise have access.  The internet enabled community is the limit.

#3/ You want to propel yourself forward in new ways.  If you have a special project, sharing it is a great way to get your creativity and forward momentum going.

#4/ You want to grow your community for fun.  It’s nice to see what others are doing.  You can join a community, or you can grow one.

#5/ You want to create or grow a business.  The internet connects people in ways not previously possible.  It enables you to see opportunities where others might not have existed.  If you want to try to bring in a slow but steady stream of income, this is it!  Companies are constantly looking for ways to share what they do, and they need help from others.  Like you, like me.

#6/ The big reason: I’m just playing and through that play, I’m learning and growing.  It’s turning into what we do at Makersville, and we share that play- those learning experiences – with others.

There will be other reasons.  For now, I’ll stop here, and come back to this later to add in new reasons to blog.

Trish Tsoiasue is a Maker and, together with Morio Murase and Caprice Rothe (Hands of E.T.) started a community called Makersville, a BSA Career Exploring Club called Club Ten (Unit 1010) and a BSA Career Exploring Post called High Values (Unit 1111).  She has come to the conclusion that she makes social systems (communities) and sometimes she makes and finishes physical things.  She is the LUG Ambassador for the Long Beach LEGO User Group, a Recognized LUG.  Once she played a game called the Community Lemonade Game.  She also blogs on the Belmont Shore Patch, and she has several YouTube channels, her main channel being Squigglemom.