Why do I blog?

posted: 2007-08-05 12:28:31

It's a good question that has been put to me at couple of time recently. I've got a few answers.

First, for me, the reason I got into blogging was as a technology experiment. I wanted to play with blog-related technology so that I could understand it better. It's clear that I am not a writer. I do not enjoy writing. I find it one of the most difficult activities one can undertake. So much of human language is so vague. I prefer computer languages. ( As an aside, I'm one of those people annoyed by the addition of ginourmous to the dictionary. The point of ginormous was that you were describing something so large that the existing words for large were insufficient. Now we have to use something else. Hugantic? Collosatitan? Googantic? )

Reason number two was as a social experiment. My social skills are limited. Some people are energized by interacting with people. I find it draining. One on one, ok. Dealing with 2-5, fine. But the more people the less fine it gets. I thought that by blogging about various interests I might meet other like minded folk. Aside from a few very limited examples, that failed. Lesson one - blogging is not really a social activity. It's related to social activity, but even with comments, it is really more of a unidirectional form of communication. I'm not the kind person who writes letters to family and freinds, but this does offer a glimpse of what I'm thinking to those that want to know without my having spammed everyone.

Reason three - catharsis. This wasn't a driver originally, but I've found that it feels good to throw ideas out into the ether. Maybe someone will find it. Maybe not. But it's out there. A minor contribution.

People have suggested that it's to get a job, or part of some ego trip. Not really. I don't think anyone would hire me based on the content of my blog. As for the ego component, I imagine there is some truth to that, in an arm-chair-quarterback/back-seat-driver sort of fashion.

Am I full of shit? Tell me why. [ 158 remarks ]

A note from the author

HackerMojo.com is using a fluid layout based upon work by Dave Reeder. I'm trying to take CSS a little more seriously; but I'm having a hard time because of all of the bad syntax, browser compatibility hacks, and non-fluid layouts. If any of the other technology I used were like CSS, I'd have to set myself on fire and jump off of a cliff.

Lab Sites

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Hacker Mojo *
Simile Timelines *
Mmm Brains
Knoxzilla *
Haiku Dojo
Mucho Nada *
KnoxVile, the worst of Knoxville's commentors *

Yahoo's content

posted: 2007-08-05 11:28:27

Look at this article:

Man, that guy's awesome. Now look at the page. Man that page is awesome.

Local Sites

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Are you wasting your ad budget online?

posted: 2007-07-30 23:41:10

Business 2.0 has a post about the popularity of online email programs for delivering ads. I'm cross-posting my response here because I don't frequent their blogs enough.

Yeah, email sites rank among the top places for putting ads -- because they are applications with which people spend a ...

The Biz is back!

posted: 2007-07-22 21:52:34

Three words for ya: Yo Gabba Gabba

Yo Gabba Gabba looks to be the new H R Puf'N'Stuf, now with a hiphop beat and targeted at younger children.

Here's an example:

SEO versus SEM

posted: 2007-07-15 09:33:05

The best way to clarify the difference between SEO and SEM is as the difference between earning traffic and buying traffic.

You can often tell when SEM ( traffic buying ) is at play because you don't get what you want from the search engines.

As an example, as part of ...

The Pixies and Tivo

posted: 2007-07-08 11:13:30

The Pixies were on Austin City Limits last night. They rawked. But that's not the point of this entry. I've been using a tivo for a couple of years now. It should know alot about what I like at this point. But it doesn't. TiVo's recommendation engine was instead deciding ...

Thoughts on Print ( UPDATED )

posted: 2007-06-08 08:53:16

So, in an interview with Time Inc. CEO, Ann Moore, about the struggle to grow online revenue, Ann sums up the whole print conundrum: Here is the strategy. First, build the best of product. Differentiate it. Second, build the big audience and by that I mean you need partnerships with ...

Up from the depths...

posted: 2007-06-07 16:29:36

SeaDragon is hot. And before the mac fanboy's get all 'leopard already does that,' watch it to the end and see how they've stiched those images together with photosynth. That's pretty frightening, er, amazing.

3D Silhouettes

posted: 2007-06-04 21:31:06

After seeing this, I defnitely have to refine my skills on the lathe. That's too awesome!