I started my first web log on Blogger years ago, probably in my little corner of the office as a software developer. At the time, it was just a way to post up random stuff about life, but over the years I slowly realized the potential it had to touch other people’s lives (as well as mine). But by the time I had realized that, I had put up so much junk on my blog that no one would ever read apart from myself, I feared no one would ever take me seriously.
So, I launched a separate blog to discuss about more serious things I cared about, like jobs and careers. And then, when I got into the masters program, I launched this blog, to talk about UX. Now, I manage three blogs, plus a food aggregator that caters for two countries I currently don’t reside in, and that can be a lot of work, sometimes. That’s when I start to relate to some people about what blogs are about, and what they should be, and what they’re not.
So sometimes I think it’s a way to post random junk. Then I think no, it’s a way to inspire others. Then, I think… no, I should make it sell – sell my ideas and make me rich (right).
And the plain fact is – it’s just a tool, dammit. Use it however you want.
*bonk*
Recently, a classmate of mine who is a total news junkie (his own words) introduced me to Dave Winer’s blog, Scripting News. Any self-respecting internet pundit would know about Winer’s claim to fame (the invention of RSS). He is someone who the NY Times calls, “The protoblogger”. Thus, skimming through his articles, I caught glipses of his “proto-posts”.
Dave’s posts are brief, but packed with insight. They are personal, but not revealing. They are vocal, but not contentious. And I think there is a lot of variation as you move out into the blogosphere, but Dave’s blog is like smack in the middle.
And if I ever really needed to give a good definition of a blog, Dave’s would be it.
So, there.