Why I Blog?

By Dorai ThodlaInformation and Intelligence

Here is a  recent tweet of mine.

Seth Godin and Tom Peters on why blogging matters to any professional. http://bit.ly/9ZBx4v via @ducttape

Here are some reasons I blog:

  • It is a magnificent thinking tool. I think it has something to do with sitting down and writing. Sometimes, I just pick a link, a video or a tweet and think aloud.
  • It is an excellent way to start conversations. You find something interesting (to you) in a blog, and you can add your point of view.
    It is also a way to invite others to teach you. Sometimes I get more out of the comments of my blog than the act of writing it. People are generous with sharing ideas and information.
  • If you blog enough, your blogs will tell the world who you are,  which areas you have ideas to contribute. They say that you can judge a person by their friends. You can certainly learn a lot about a person by their blogs.
  • Reading a set of company blogs, you can get a sense of what the company is all about. When a product manager blogs, you get a peek at what is going on behind the scenes. I am amazed at how much you can understand about a person from their blogs. Blogging is one of the best branding tools.
  • Blogging is a delightful way to build an informal community.

To me, the act of blogging is therapeutic.

12 thoughts on “Why I Blog?”

  1. Fantastic post and a nice video.. In addition to the reasons you’ve provided, one of the reasons I’ve started writing is that it helps me in my programming as well..

    The more I write.. the more I read. I did not know it would have this effect on me.

    Thanks for sharing.

  2. Dorai,

    I blog for many of the same reasons, but by far the first (It is a great thinking tool) has paid off for me in dividends.

    Typically, I will start writing a blog post with an idea in mind and by the end, the post will have been shaped by the process of thinking through what I am trying to say.

    A side-benefit is that I usually leave each blog post writing session with a bunch of ideas for new blog posts!

    -Matt

    1. Matt,
      I need to thank Robert Scoble for getting me started again. I first started using Blogger some time in 2005 and gave up after some time. On 1st Jan 2006, Scoble gave an informal talk to a small group of us at Doug Engelbart’s house. I went back and started that day. I am glad I did. Like Satya says, when you write more you read more.

  3. The biggest benefit i see in writing down a blog is that once you sit down and prepare you are able to accumulate thoughts and make them coherent. You tend to form opinions on that subject and when others opine and comment, everyone involved learns that extra thing or two 🙂

    1. Thanks. You are right. One of the most amazing experiences I have had was a blog post on “Teaching my kids to program http://bit.ly/c7PJYT“. I was tracking it for a while. The comments went from 2006-2010. I was amazed at how many people jumped in (I think the comments crossed 1000) to talk about the topic.

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  5. I think a blog is the best way to interact with people who have similar interests as you do.

    Its the new age way of making pen friends 🙂
    and if you’re an expert at something, its the best and most effective way to share your knowledge with the world

    🙂

  6. All good reasons to blog!

    I came across your blog while searching for some community for my new journey learning Python. Your posts in that category were helpful to me..

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