Why Everyone Should Blog

I’m just not ready to start working yet. So, here are my reasons why everyone should blog. Well, maybe not everyone...but a lot more than do now.

First, it is easy. There is very little barrier to entry. There are free blogging services like the one I use, blogger, that allow you to get up and going quickly.

Second, it is a non-invasive way to tell people about yourself and what is going on in your life. Take, for example, some of my recent posts. If someone likes to hear my technology recommendations, how well I do on online games, or what I think about excavations at Qumran, they can tune into my blog. I don’t have to go around to everyone whom I think is interested to tell them these things. That way I’m not telling lots of people things they just don’t want to know. If they want to know, they can go to my blog. If they don’t, they can avoid it. Or, there are some cases where people might be interested whom I just couldn’t imagine would be. Maybe, for some odd reason, they might think I’m intelligent or occassionally have something useful to say. If I have a blog, they can go read these things and don’t have to feel left out because I didn’t choose to tell lots of people how much I think a particular site is funny. See, it is a non-invasive way of keeping those who care aware of what is going on in my life and in my head.

Third, it is just a great place to put random thoughts that are sometimes very useful. I learn a lot from blogs, because sometimes people post code snippets or advice that is very useful. Usually this is the kind of information that doesn’t merit a full article or something, or perhaps needs one but the author doesn’t have the time.

Fourth, for many it is therapeutic. It is for me. I got a lot of satisfaction out of complaining about Crystal Reports. Lots of others have bigger problems and actually typing stuff out makes them feel better.

Fifth, one of the problems with most websites is you actually have to go there to get updates, or subscribe to email updates. Such is not the case with blogs. Most blogs use something called RSS or ATOM feeds, which are ways of telling the world what is going on in your blog. You can use programs that will check blogs to see if they have updated their feeds and you can keep up with all the blog changes you care about...and you don’t even have to visit the blogs themselves. These programs are often called RSS feed aggregators or something like that. More about this in a later post. Right now I’ve got 28 RSS feeds that I watch. And to watch them all and to see what is updated takes about 5 seconds. The glory of technology.

So you, yes you, need to blog if you haven’t started.

Now to work.