The Why

Every year around this time I find myself thinking about blogging, this blog, and The Future. [cue dramatic music]

A few years ago blogging was just something I did. I posted most days, and I didn’t have to really think too hard about what I was going to write. It was just part of my routine, a habit, if you will. (Over the years, I have learned that I can develop new habits quite easily, if I want to. But that’s a topic for another post.)

So anyway, while thinking about blogging and habits and why #blogjune still exists, I came across a post by Will Richardson.

Will was writing about a post he wrote back in 2009:

And on a personal note, I think this post comes from the period when I was at my pinnacle as a blogger. The Twitter effect was just about to take root. I was starting to blog less and Tweet more, a trend that I’ve been trying to reverse in the last few months. Either way, it’s definitely interesting having an archive to look back on.

I used to read Will’s blog avidly, back then. His writing about teaching, teachers, learning, and education, interested me. He also wrote a lot about all the New Technologies that I was exploring at the time. Then Twitter happened – “the Twitter effect”, as he calls it. I do remember when I started posting more and more on Twitter, and things started to get more occasional, more fragmented here – mainly because my attention and time was being spent elsewhere.

I have really been enjoying this year’s #blogjune. The posts are just happening as they happen, and I haven’t been stressing out too much about what I’m going to blog. Much like I used to blog, I think.

I still see a lot of value in blogging. I like how it forces me to write, to take note. I like that I can connect with a few people out there. And I like that I can look back over the last 10 years or so and there is something of a record there. My paper journals are less accessible!

Andrew Finegan came to a similar conclusion:

…one thing I like about BlogJune is that it creates a month-long snapshot of my life – where I am, what I’m doing, what my hopes and dreams are. I like going back to another time, and watching my life unfold from day to day, with its associated thoughts. It reminds me of who I used to be – the good and the bad – and thus appreciate how far I’ve come (or how far I’ve deviated!).