As an indication of my age, I still remember when blogging first took off and everyone was openly exposing their life stories to the rest of the online world. While those stories were often relevant to readers within the authors' social circles, I always felt like the overall value was limited. Personally, I preferred to create deeper connections through in-person interaction. Because of this view, I neither followed blogs nor wrote one of my own for many years.
Over time, I have come to recognize that there are many stories out there that have helped me in many ways. I have found solutions to engineering and coding problems many times in blog posts by other engineers who dealt with the same problems. I've found clues on life and philosophy in the random musings of individuals half a world away. This abundance of information cannot be found in books. It is the seemingly trite details that these stories include that make them real and relatable. They are the difference between reading abstract theory and reading about the actual steps taken to reach the goal.
In the end, the question I have come to ask myself is no longer "why blog," but instead "why not blog?" There are several easy excuses including not having enough time, not having anything interesting to write about, etc., but the reasoning behind these excuses is lame. Anyone can take 15 minutes while waiting for the bus to jot down a few thoughts. Assuredly, there is someone out there in the estimated 7 billion people around the world (or at least the 360M with internet access) who will relate or benefit in some way from our real-life stories.
So, I embark on this journey in the hope that someone out there will find what I share useful. I know I have found your thoughts and stories to be of great value and thank all those bloggers out there who have been contributing to our collective story over the years.
In closing, here's a post from one of my favorite bloggers, Brad Feld, about why he blogs and what it has meant for him.
