Earlier this week Pete Blackshaw wrote a column in the entitled 10 reasons why he should stop blogging.
So, should I stop blogging?
Seriously, I’m starting to feel really anxious about keeping up with my main blog.
Don’t get me wrong. I love my blog and its topic, but frankly, I’m struggling to keep up. I’m just not cranking out content like I used to, and feel as if I’m contributing “too little too late.” I’m starting to freak about folks potentially sending unsubscribe pings my way, and I just can’t handle the thought of such rejection.
Pete’s not the only one going through this dilemma. After a year of blogging I found that my blogging output has its highs and lows. It is hard work keeping a steady stream going and they’re not always going to be pearls. But I really believe it is worth it. I still get a charge when I’m at a show and somebody walks up to me and says, “I love your blog”. I can’t help but checking to see if a new post generated some buzz and is getting picked up around the Web. And I profess to check my Technorati ranking more often than I should.
Adding to the aggregate doubt about blogging was a video appeal by blogger Michael Gray asking bloggers to step away from the keyboard. If you don’t have anything useful to contribute, don’t regurgitate, just give up.
It’s all blog content good? No. Is there a lot of it that’s redundant? Yes. Do I waste a lot of my day sorting through crap content? Yes. Does that mean people should stop blogging? No, and I’ll tell you why. In fact, I’ll give Pete and the rest of you out there who are wondering if this is worth it 10 reasons to keep blogging:
- New ideas have to be expressed frequently and in different ways to be heard
The thing I like most about blogging is its immediacy. As an idea pops into your head, it’s really not that hard to post to your blog. That means that blogs are often the seed beds for new ideas. It’s where we first express them, seeing if they resonate with anyone else out there in our readership. If they do resonate, other bloggers start picking up the thread and embellishing on the original idea. Ideas can spread very quickly this way. And that’s tremendously exciting. Let’s face it, it takes a while for new ideas to gain traction. So when new ideas are expressed in different ways in different places around the Web they’re given a better chance to grow and survive. Blogs are like incubators for new ideas.
- Everyone has a voice
Freedom of speech is enshrined in the Bill of Rights. We all have voices. Blogs allow us to express those voices. It’s not for you or me or Michael Gray to say what is important and what is not important, which voice deserves to be heard and which voice should be silenced. None of them should be silenced. It’s your choice whether you choose to listen or not.
- You can’t find your voice unless you use it
The first time you speak up, you usually do so timidly. The first time I spoke in public, my words barely came out as a squeak. The more often you choose to express yourself though, the more confident your voice becomes. When I first started blogging , somebody told me it would take a while for me to find my voice. To be honest, I’m still not sure if I’ve found it. My voice seems to vary from post to post. But the fact is, the more I post the easier it gets to express myself. Eventually you find your voice, your viewpoint and, more importantly, your audience finds you. The best bloggers out there have the consistency of message and voice that attracts huge numbers of readers. But unless you push to keep blogging, you may never find the voice or the confidence to speak out.
- Generating dialogue is a good thing
Blogs are forums for online conversation. Sometimes the conversations can be affirmative in nature and sometimes they can evolve into debates. Either way conversations are a good thing. Ideological debate is a good thing. Blogs fuel online conversation and that is one of the most positive aspects that the Internet brings to our society.
- The Web is a big place
We have all defined our favorite paths online. We’ve all identified the blogs and sites that we like to frequent. Repeating important stories and news isn’t necessarily a bad thing. You may be reaching an audience who just wouldn’t have heard it anywhere else.
- There’s News and then there’s Views
Most often, when I am passing along a news story ,I try to add my own viewpoint and analysis. I believe this adds value to the original story and colors it, giving it dimension and perspective. The best bloggers try to do the same. It’s one thing to just regurgitate news. It’s another thing to digest it and come back with thoughtful analysis.
- Communication is essential to community
No doubt about it. The Internet is a global community and the fundamental glue of community is communication. Blogs represent the most vibrant form of communication online right now. It represents the free flow of ideas back and forth between the citizens of this community. If you shut down blogs, you shut down a substantial portion of communication that makes the Internet the largest, most vibrant, most engaging community that has ever existed in history.
- One post can make a difference
You just never know what the post is that could make the difference. The idea may seem like a throwaway to you, but once posted it may find it takes a life on of its own and you’ll be amazed by how far and wide it can travel. Sometimes just expressing your viewpoint about one simple idea can make a difference for someone else out there who reads it. It can open their eyes to a reality they hadn’t seen before. Paradigm shifting can be a tremendously powerful thing and it can be initiated by a single blog post.
- Ideas shouldn’t die alone
There’s nothing worse than having an idea and never giving it life. Nothing kills an idea faster than locking it in a dark cupboard. Ideas need air to breathe and light to grow. Most of all, ideas need support. They need to find others who get it and grow it. Like I said before, blogs are a place where this can happen. By the way Pete, one of your articles did this for me, and I posted on it on my blog.
- Not everyone can do this
This is hard work, and perhaps that’s the best reason to keep doing it. There will be many who try and give up. There will be more than never try in the first place. The latest numbers indicate that there is about 80 million blogs out there. Pete’s blog has a rank of 21,503 right now on Technorati. That means he’s in an elite group, amongst the top .02 % of all blogs on the web.
Don’t give up Pete..I’m reading!
Out of My Gord 