Monday, March 27, 2006

Why do I blog????

I had a discussion with my wife earlier about if blogging is worth it. Some days, it seems like more trouble than it's worth to get people to actually come to your blog and read and comment.... But I have come to the conclusion that when it boils down to it- that's not why I blog.... When I started my blog in January of 2005, I did it just to see what all the fuss was about. I had heard increasing mention of blogs, bloggers, the blogosphere etc... and i had no clue what the Hell I was hearing. I heard there were a lot of political bloggers out there, so I decided to start a page that I assumed would talk about politics- Thus the name "Guppyman's Rant Zone". At the time, I would go to many political message boards and get into heated debate over how nuts I think the left is... Actually... It was around that time that I became so bored with politics and the circles the debates would go without actually getting anywhere... My first post was actually about us painting our dining room and a couple of projects we did... I posted a handful of times in January, including my most popular post ever (that hasn't recieved a single comment) about an aquarium stand I built (I say most popular because I get hits almost every day from people searching out aquarium stand plans).... February found me quitting smoking (yeah... I didn't stay quit)... March brought on my first experience with somebody talking crap about me on their blog.... Looking back, I still find it funny (and I still get occasional visitors from there)... I've talked about all kinds of things over the last year or so.... from stupid links to idiots hurting themselves to reality TV show reviews to prayer requests for my wife and family... I never did find that niche that my blog neatly fits into... I tried the occasional political post, but got bored by it quickly... I figure I really don't need to define where I fit as long as I enjoy posting still.... But the point of my post is this.... I love comments. They feed my ego, they make me feel like people out there actually care what I have to say, etc... But they aren't the reason I blog. I like getting lot's of traffic.... I like being ranked high on things like Battle of the Blogs... But none of those are my reason for all this either... I blog because I enjoy it. I like being able to look back on what I had to say about things. I like the community of people I have found. I like working with my template and making my page look how I want it. I've had webpages before that I went nuts on and constantly worked to keep everything up to date and how I wanted it... Blogging is a logical extension of that, with the added benefit of being able to easily add content any time I want without much effort. I love it. So comment, don't comment, read me daily or skim on by... any way you want to do it is fine by me.... My real reason for doing this at all is for me.

12 comments:

Michael said...

Yes, an apt description that we can all identify with.
Thanks for sharing.

SupComTabz said...

Ha.. I love comments too!

"Jet" said...

I blog for myself too Guppy! I love your site and it's content!

Take care!

XXOO,
JTL

Cori said...

How about if I just stop by and say Hello!

Tammy said...

Well said....and isn't that really why all of us are blogging?

Anonymous said...

yes, we bloggers all love comments, don't we?

i started writing online on diary-x. i had a diary there for five years, then diary-x died so i bought my own domain and started blogging (after deciding the livejournal community just wasn't my thing)

like you, i'm going to keep on writing regardless of people reading, but i like knowing people are hearing what i say anyway. i'm going to try to make it a point to comment on the blogs i like most when i am surfing - yours is one of them.

Anonymous said...

Blogging is fun, you can make friends and just find a release at times.

The comments do help, it is nice to get feedback and realize people are actually reading your stuff and not just surfing through on a blog exchange.

I've tried journals but get fed up just writing to myself, the interaction with others makes it interesting.

But in the end it is all for you, if you enjoy it keep doing it.

Mik

Thumper said...

Funny, I find myself wanting lots of comments even though I don't leave them on every blog I read. It's the grade-school-outsider mentaility, I think. Like maybe they don't WANT me there... LOL

I blog simply because I ned the outlet. Comments are always nice, though.

Jake Silver said...

Blogging is a great de-Stressor for me. Some people have video games or Cars or Fishing or whatever. I have my Show.

Unknown said...

Blog on brother, blog on.

phoenix said...

I have a tendancy to feel left out when the comments drop. Its like "Did I offend someone?". You can't help but take it to heart when the comments drop off.(just went through this the other day) But in the end it is for yourself that you write. I just have to keep reminding myself of that. :)

Matthew S. Urdan said...

Exactly...couldn't have said it better myself...oh, and go for the first banner with the turtle....

Meltwater. Torrents. Meanderings. Delta.