Why write a blog?

A recent comment has made me think; perhaps it’s time we looked into blogging itself.

Just press 'Enter' and let the internet do the rest

Here I am talking about my Shine 2011 training, thinking that:

1. You care and

2. It’s helpful

When really who am I? Why are you interested in my long winded posts and thoughts?

I started writing again because I had a lot of stories that were written or proposed and I thought “sod it, let’s share this.” But why a blog? What is a blog? And really, if you’re starting out what’s the best thing to do?

In honesty, the best advice I could give would be “write what you know” because there’s nothing worse than reading through blogs from people pretending to be knowledgeable about something and them not know a thing. Says me writing this…

Write what you know

Some might argue I do know what I am writing about, after all I am a Broadcast Journalist and have been working online for since 2007; it’s part of my job to know and understand social media, networks and relationships that people have with them but that does not make me an expert, nor does it allow me to talk about things that I don’t know about.

So I talk about myself

Cancer Research Shine website

Which takes me back to my Shine 2011 training log, this is truth. I am walking 26.2 miles for Cancer Research UK, I am wearing neon blue headbands with friends during the walk, I have a family member who is fighting with this disease all this is truth which perhaps is why you read it?

It makes me wonder where this is all going? What is next? Is every 2^nd person going to have a blog, a little bit of the internet they call their own outside of Facebook or am I being too general to think anyone cares enough for that.

Inspiration

It got me thinking about another element to a short story that I am writing behind the scenes: “What would we do if the internet just stopped working one day?” I for one would be out of work but aside from that, what about blogging and social areas – would be know how to share our most personal and intimate thoughts with each other in speech? I mean, would this be a level of conversation I would have with you face-to-face, reciting some poems and reading you my short stories. I doubt it.

Imagine a life with no internet

As for hash tags (which are common place in Twitter as a means of grouping conversations together), how on earth would they come into conversation without the internet, for example would we say in conversation: “Hello, if your hash laughing can you please go towards the hash kitchen?” I doubt it, this just wouldn’t work.

So why is it okay for me to do so here and you happily read it? Is it only me that finds this strange?

Whatever the reason, I don’t see myself stopping and I will continue to fill my empty sheets of the World Wide Web with information of my training and blogging plans.

My Shine walk log:

You can sponsor me via our fundraising page. You can follow Shine Walk-a-thon on Facebook and Twitter @CR_UK or #shine2011