Let’s face it — in the past 12 years or so, the idea of blogging has been bastardized by one and all. We continue to confuse blogging as using “WordPress” or using phrases like “told me” or “I asked.” It is news releases repackaged and republished, and it is a vast sea of editorial sameness. What started as a way to break away from the tyranny of the established order — formats and rules — has been brought to its knees. Blogging is much more than that. #via
I thought Om had some great thoughts on the subject of blogging. It’s been interesting to watch blogging grow although I’ve only been part of the “blogosphere” for a short time. We’ve morphed from a time when writing and blogging were restricted to the few to now, where literally anyone and everyone has a blog or website of some sort. Anyone that doesn’t have a blog likely still posts small insights into their life on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. Are these outlets necessarily bad? I don’t think so. Obviously, to each their own. I’ve shared my thoughts on the idea of condensing your sharing outlets before when I decided to drop Facebook and primarily share things either here or on Twitter.
Since I’ve been posting and maintaining my own piece of land on the internet, my own vision of and purpose for blogging have changed quite dramatically. In the past, my entire focus was on driving traffic, attracting readers, building an email list, and (eventually) selling them something. I looked at blogging as primarily a means of generating revenue.
Fast-forward to today, my primary purpose is just to share things that I find interesting. Those “things” range from technology to fitness to lifestyle design, and honestly, I’m not concerned with locking down a central theme. Obviously, some readers likely don’t appreciate the fact that my topics can jump all over the place, but I’m okay with that. As Om describes, a blog is “a central location where you fit together all the Lego pieces.” I couldn’t agree more, and I enjoy putting the lego pieces together for everyone to see.
If anything, I hope more people adopt the art of blogging and begin to share more on their own personal blogs. There’s something empowering about posting to your own little corner of the internet.
If you’re interested in getting started, might I suggest WordPress?