Sterling W. Camden
What is a blog to me? That was the very question I sought to answer by starting one, and maybe I won't have an answer until I finish it. Many times the so-called blogosphere has battled over the question of what constitutes a blog, with the outcome usually favoring a broad definition. Maybe something along the lines of "online periodic publishing". Whether it's personal, group, or corporate; whether it's monthly, daily, or hourly; whether it's presented in reverse chronological sequence or not -- if it's published online with periodic updates and preserved archives you can probably call it a blog.
That kind of loose terminology means that the purpose and content of blogs ranges widely. I personally run two blogs: Chip's Quips and Chip's Tips. I've had Chip's Tips on the web since June 2001. The original version didn't use "blogging software", it used an XML-based CMS of my own design. But by the definition given above, it was a blog. I've always used it to publish programming tips, tricks, and examples for various languages and platforms. Within the last year, I also started publishing self-contained, consumable widgets and other simple applications, but I don't plan to expand the focus of the site beyond that scope. As a result, since converting to WordPress it has become one of Google's darlings when it comes to searching for coding hacks.
Chip's Quips, which I started in January 2006, is where I blog about everything else. It's truly a personal blog, and my primary benefit from writing it has been getting to know myself better. I've often blogged on the subject of getting real, and I think of myself as a sort of geeky Pinocchio trying his best to become a real boy.Naturally, the first step in that direction is to force myself to be brutally honest. Coming clean in front of everyone on the Internet can be a scary experience, but liberating at the same time.
As others of your contributors have noted, blogs build online communities. I enjoy exchanging comments and posts with readers, and my readers so far have been about the best bunch of online people I've ever virtually met. Even when the topic got fairly heated, they've always been polite. I'm a big believer in freedom of expression, so even if a commenter got nasty I would probably leave it up and respond to it instead. I believe that negative comments say more about the commenter than about the person they target.
Blogging helps me to think things through better, by forcing me to write them out in a way that I think will be understood by others.
Blogging gives me a voice and an online identity. It strokes my ego. My blog is my own little piece of Webturf, and I am the main attraction.
How do I blog? If an idea hits me, I start writing. It doesn't have to be well-formed, that will happen as I'm writing or after, upon revision. I'm often amazed at how well things come together as long as you just keep going. It's when you stop to consider what you're doing that the ideas grow stale. Just write. Then go back and revise, drawing connections that you just barely missed on the first draft. Add some humor where you missed the opportunity. Link to people.
Link to people. The only cost of a Google-juice gift is the time and text it takes to create a link. Usually it will come back to you -- with trackback/pingback, that can happen automatically. It's a great way to build good will and promote yourself and others at the same time. That said, I try to only link to sites that I really find interesting, because I also want to build trust in my readers that the effort of following my links will not be wasted.
The high points of my blogging career? When someone that I read and admire tells me that they like what I have to say, or when I get linked from thought-provoking posts.
What is a blog to me? That was the very question I sought to answer by starting one, and maybe I won't have an answer until I finish it. Many times the so-called blogosphere has battled over the question of what constitutes a blog, with the outcome usually favoring a broad definition. Maybe something along the lines of "online periodic publishing". Whether it's personal, group, or corporate; whether it's monthly, daily, or hourly; whether it's presented in reverse chronological sequence or not -- if it's published online with periodic updates and preserved archives you can probably call it a blog.That kind of loose terminology means that the purpose and content of blogs ranges widely. I personally run two blogs: Chip's Quips and Chip's Tips. I've had Chip's Tips on the web since June 2001. The original version didn't use "blogging software", it used an XML-based CMS of my own design. But by the definition given above, it was a blog. I've always used it to publish programming tips, tricks, and examples for various languages and platforms. Within the last year, I also started publishing self-contained, consumable widgets and other simple applications, but I don't plan to expand the focus of the site beyond that scope. As a result, since converting to WordPress it has become one of Google's darlings when it comes to searching for coding hacks.
Chip's Quips, which I started in January 2006, is where I blog about everything else. It's truly a personal blog, and my primary benefit from writing it has been getting to know myself better. I've often blogged on the subject of getting real, and I think of myself as a sort of geeky Pinocchio trying his best to become a real boy.Naturally, the first step in that direction is to force myself to be brutally honest. Coming clean in front of everyone on the Internet can be a scary experience, but liberating at the same time.
As others of your contributors have noted, blogs build online communities. I enjoy exchanging comments and posts with readers, and my readers so far have been about the best bunch of online people I've ever virtually met. Even when the topic got fairly heated, they've always been polite. I'm a big believer in freedom of expression, so even if a commenter got nasty I would probably leave it up and respond to it instead. I believe that negative comments say more about the commenter than about the person they target.
Blogging helps me to think things through better, by forcing me to write them out in a way that I think will be understood by others.
Blogging gives me a voice and an online identity. It strokes my ego. My blog is my own little piece of Webturf, and I am the main attraction.
How do I blog? If an idea hits me, I start writing. It doesn't have to be well-formed, that will happen as I'm writing or after, upon revision. I'm often amazed at how well things come together as long as you just keep going. It's when you stop to consider what you're doing that the ideas grow stale. Just write. Then go back and revise, drawing connections that you just barely missed on the first draft. Add some humor where you missed the opportunity. Link to people.
Link to people. The only cost of a Google-juice gift is the time and text it takes to create a link. Usually it will come back to you -- with trackback/pingback, that can happen automatically. It's a great way to build good will and promote yourself and others at the same time. That said, I try to only link to sites that I really find interesting, because I also want to build trust in my readers that the effort of following my links will not be wasted.
The high points of my blogging career? When someone that I read and admire tells me that they like what I have to say, or when I get linked from thought-provoking posts.
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