Bloggasm

I’m starting to question why people blog. Part of this has to do with seeing so many interesting blogs go unnoticed. Even sadder is the case of ghost blogs – they’re writing, but no one’s coming by. The future looks even bleaker – with more and more blogs being created everyday, there is too to read, even if some of it is remarkably good (for an example, take Steve Pavlina’s blog on personal development – almost every post is eye-opening and useful to your life, but reading it all would take a month!).

I thought it would be fun to list all the different reasons people blog for - I’ve posted a few below, but I’m sure you can come up with more reasons.

Blogging for Chicks

Despite this being a geek’s ultimate fantasy (although some might say this is third to money and fame, but they are lying out of their skins), I’ve never heard anyone pick up chicks through their blogging efforts. Maybe because we tend to reveal too much of ourselves, and women want strong men, not wimpy geeks who post about their feelings on their personal journals (no offense Simon ;))?

Note that women don’t usually need to go to such extreme measures to pick up guys, so this doesn’t apply (It is my long-standing belief that a guy will accept any girl (above a bare minimum standard) as long as he doesn’t have a better option; unfortunately the opposite is not so true.).

So how does one blog to pick up chicks? Maybe this deserves a whole new blog? I’ll definitely write about this topic in the future.

Blogging for Money

This has been hyped too much already (and is the reason behind the deluge of splogs (spam blogs)). The truth is that most bloggers don’t make much money by just blogging. They invariably have something else lined up (a job (death in a cubicle) or some other business). Fulltime bloggers rarely end up earning enough to live off their blogs.

If you’re blogging for money, please don’t quit your day job, and for the love of God, have more than one iron in the fire. In other words, don’t focus on one stream of income – that is as stupid as quitting your job to become a fulltime blogger without having any experience in blogging or making money online.

If you want to make money from your blogging, my advice is to read, read and read. Performancing and ProBlogger are two of the best resources on this (I’ll be reviewing Performancing soon, so keep a lookout for that – maybe we can get Nick or Chris to give us an interview).

PR Blogging

This applies to all company blogs. This form of blogging also comes pre-packaged with a finite focus (public relations for the said organization) so all the blogger really needs to do is write well (easier said than done).

Personally, I’d like to see more and more companies become accessible through blogging – the interaction and conversations from blogs go a long way towards building brand loyalty.

Personal Journals

I have a personal journal. Simon has one. It is how most people start with blogging. We usually don’t interview personal blogs, but that is probably because most of these blogs are directed towards friends and are not terribly interesting for strangers (unless you are the kind of stranger who enjoys reading about random peoples’ daily routines).

Blogging for Recognition/Fame

This is where all the other blogs (almost all of them) go in. Whenever you are showcasing content for other people to read, you’re looking for recognition. It’s a crude definition, and I’m sure you guys can give me a better one, but for now it works.

Blogging for fame is sort of like selling yourself – it’s not always pretty, and it’s not always successful, and it invariably ends up bruising your ego.

Are you an ego-blogger? Aren’t we all?

So…

Why do you blog?

If you think we should interview someone interesting or review a really cool blog, write to us and let us know.