So, why blog?

I spend a lot of time justifying what I do online to The Big Guy.


He understands the shop but he has quite a bit of trouble understanding participation in forums (other than the ones directly related to business issues). He really can't comprehend blogging, at all. I simply try to avoid discussing Twitter with him!


I try to do most of my posting in these areas when he's not around or at least when he's sleeping in his chair in front of the TV.

He can understand the back and forth discussion of business tips and sales techniques, etc., on the business related forums. He believes they have a purpose. He can liken that to the various engineering forums some of his colleagues at work participate in. Ultimately, he brings most issues down to whether they are likely to reap some sort of financial reward.

I do, however, participate in a forum of craft-oriented folks that spend time just fostering our cyber friendships. He has, to some degree, belittled this activity. He simply can't comprehend making friends with someone you have never met in person or who lives far away and you will most likely never come face-to-face. It was then that I realized he'd never had a pen-pal! I thought everyone had done that at one time or another.


At one point, he referred to these folks as my "make-believe friends." He's eased up on them a bit as my "make-believe" friends sent real sympathy cards recently when we sustained a loss and real e-mails outside of the forum when I truly needed them. I've also received both birthday gifts and Christmas gifts from several of these "make-believe" pals.


I Twitter to promote my shop, my blog and just to comment on what's happening around me. I do not tell my Twitter followers I am sitting on my porch, or eating my breakfast, like the commercial that satirizes Twitter a bit. Rarely do I Twitter more than, say, six times a day and often not at all. I don't Twitter when he's around at all.


But blogging ... now, blogging has become an addiciton. I admit it.


When asked by some poor soul who honestly doesn't understand what blogging is, I've equated it with a newpaper column. Since I started college as a journalism and mass communications major, my friends and family can immediately identify with that.


When asked why I blog, I have to give it more thought. I started because I was told it was a great way to get the online business out there in front of everybody. Promote - promote -promote. However, I don't do a lot of shop promoting. I do occasionally show something new and once in a while I push an item or two for whatever reason but for the most part, my Etsy mini is over there on the sidelines and that's about it.


But I think I blog mainly because I love to write. As I said, I planned a career in journalism but print journalism just isn't the career it once was. Broadcast journalism is a field for the young and beautiful. I've outgrown that!


I like to share information, tell stories and relate humorous events. I try to do it creatively. I believe this exercises one's mind. I also love to read others' writing and read their stories and tales. I've made some great friends through blogging. When I'm away without access to the computer, I miss all of you and can't wait to get back and "touch base" again.


I find writing therapeutic and, if you're going to write, you might as well find some readers. I often find I write something, planning to post it on the blog but, upon review, I decide it's a little too personal or too candid and I keep it to myself for my personal journal. (I actually call my personal journal "Blog Post Rejects.")



So, tell me, if you're a blogger, why do you blog? If you're a reader, why do you follow my blog or others?



Please give me some insight through comments on this subject. I can use all the ammunition I can gather for the next time The Big Guy asks.