The past few months I’ve started to approach blogging as a profession with what some would consider my overly simplistic beliefs about the ability of a site to serve as a tool for change instead of just another receptacle for pundits and writers to save their thoughts. It’s led me to realize that some may in fact lose their soul while others cling to beliefs with passion that makes you wonder why they didn’t write as their first profession.
I’ve learned that while the idea of a community blog for the sake of moving a region forward is beautiful and idealistic in nature, the capitalistic nature of our society forces the notion into the structured boxes of the ordinary rather than allowing it to spread its wings and grow, serving as the virtual town square that the area so desperately needs. I’ve learned that viral marketing in a town that still clings to the past like Linus does to his security blanket is worth it, but much slower than I thought it would be. I’ve realized that as much as the city yearns to prove that it’s not stuck in its ways that at times it acts worse than what people expect it to, especially in the areas of race and crime.
I’ve also seen some of our region’s most beautiful moments, captured forever (or until someone feels the need to erase the cached image) on monitors around the world, providing a glimpse of the region’s promise and potential. I’ve seen people become moved with a person’s tragedy and cheer strangers on in their accomplishments.
This is a form of expression that some hope will tell a different side of a story that needs to be told. Others hope that it merely holds the attention of their families and friends so that they won’t feel the need to call and ask if everything is OK.
The obsession that is known as blogging might come from a desire to write about our lives, or maybe the hope that those that follow us do not have to wonder for too long just what was on our minds. It opens windows into people’s minds that were previously closed to us, giving us a front row seat in the projection room to the story of their life, or at least the moments that they feel were most important.
Perhaps most of all, I’ve learned that no matter what you write, it is still history. We can only hope to guide change as the narrator through the chapters.
So let’s guide our readers where we want them to go for now and hope that our hopes and dreams, our trials and tribulations can entice them to join us on our journey, even if only in their minds. Perhaps then someone may get it right later on.
Cheers.
NOTE: I’d started writing this in December about the time that people were celebrating the 10th anniversary of the word blogging being used.
The Ramble: So why do I blog?
Published by Andre on January 3, 2008The past few months I’ve started to approach blogging as a profession with what some would consider my overly simplistic beliefs about the ability of a site to serve as a tool for change instead of just another receptacle for pundits and writers to save their thoughts. It’s led me to realize that some may in fact lose their soul while others cling to beliefs with passion that makes you wonder why they didn’t write as their first profession.
I’ve learned that while the idea of a community blog for the sake of moving a region forward is beautiful and idealistic in nature, the capitalistic nature of our society forces the notion into the structured boxes of the ordinary rather than allowing it to spread its wings and grow, serving as the virtual town square that the area so desperately needs. I’ve learned that viral marketing in a town that still clings to the past like Linus does to his security blanket is worth it, but much slower than I thought it would be. I’ve realized that as much as the city yearns to prove that it’s not stuck in its ways that at times it acts worse than what people expect it to, especially in the areas of race and crime.
I’ve also seen some of our region’s most beautiful moments, captured forever (or until someone feels the need to erase the cached image) on monitors around the world, providing a glimpse of the region’s promise and potential. I’ve seen people become moved with a person’s tragedy and cheer strangers on in their accomplishments.
This is a form of expression that some hope will tell a different side of a story that needs to be told. Others hope that it merely holds the attention of their families and friends so that they won’t feel the need to call and ask if everything is OK.
The obsession that is known as blogging might come from a desire to write about our lives, or maybe the hope that those that follow us do not have to wonder for too long just what was on our minds. It opens windows into people’s minds that were previously closed to us, giving us a front row seat in the projection room to the story of their life, or at least the moments that they feel were most important.
Perhaps most of all, I’ve learned that no matter what you write, it is still history. We can only hope to guide change as the narrator through the chapters.
So let’s guide our readers where we want them to go for now and hope that our hopes and dreams, our trials and tribulations can entice them to join us on our journey, even if only in their minds. Perhaps then someone may get it right later on.
Cheers.
NOTE: I’d started writing this in December about the time that people were celebrating the 10th anniversary of the word blogging being used.
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