Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Why Do You Blog?

Blogging takes effort.  Behind that work is a psychological motivation.  A reason.  Why we do it.

What's your reason?  Why do you blog?

The impulse for my asking just arose while reading someone's fashion blog this morning.  I could sense the blogger isn't into fashion, per se.  Her daily posting of similar, ordinary outfits seems like an excuse to blog, not the reason.  I believe, from reading her blog for months, that she wants attention and connection.  She wants people to see her and talk to her.  The blog is a calling card.

These are normal human needs that everyone shares.  Perhaps the blogger isn't getting appreciated enough in real-life and is seeking social interaction online.  To be honest, that motivated me when I started blogging.

Why do you blog?  Is it because of your ostensible subject (fashion, beauty, etc.) or something deeper?

38 comments:

  1. As always, you ask great questions to get us thinking. Kayla and I originally started blogging as a way to spend time together and shop our closets. Then it turned into discovering what worked for us, we grew personally and in fashion. I blog because it's my outlet and something for me. Plus the relationships I have with several other bloggers has really been a great experience. Then I also found Instagram and there are even awesome and supportive ladies who don't blog. Sorry, I was babbling, ha ha! Heather

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  2. I originally started blogging as a way to figure out my own sense of personal style. I guess I still use it for that purpose a little, but it's expanded to be so much more. It's a way for me to connect with awesome people (like you!) and it's a bit of a diary, too. Documentation of my life, for posterity or whatever. I also like to use it to crowd-source--what do you think of this outfit? recipe? photo wall layout? What would look good with this? Where can I find something like that? It's funny how blogging has evolved for me. I never thought I'd still be at it this far down the road :)

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  3. It is such a good question! It started out as a way to be less bored with getting dressed for work and trying to force myself to remix my own closet more. Now it's become about the relationships I've built through blogging, I have several good friends that I feel like every day I sit down to post I'm sharing my world with them as if we were having a cup of coffee - and vice versa when I read their posts as well. I still like using it for style inspiration, but I find it's so much more about the community now.

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  4. I started out when I started losing weight to document my progress and to explore new styles. It's become a way I can evaluate clothing--I used to HATE having my picture taken and now I'm super comfortable having ti done. along the way I found my tribe and made connections.

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  5. My blog has changed so much over the years, and is rather in hibernation right now, but you've asked a good question. It started out as a way to celebrate a profession I felt didn't get much attention, and quickly turned into a writing outlet. For a while I pretended I was an actual journalist, and peeps seemed to like it, especially if a dose of humor was included. Then by popular demand (no one was all that into news, although I did get an ABA Journal linkie or two) it turned into a way to share thrifty career style, and then it turned into a way to maintain friendships across the Internet and across the world. I love all y'all :)

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  6. I like to share things that I find with others. :)

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  7. I guess after 5 years it has become a habit. Sharing is addictive. Who knew! (:

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  8. I really like this post and your question. If been thinking about the same thing alot. I think the motivations are really different. I felt really often something like 'oh wow, this meal is so great, I wish I could share this with someone' but also something like 'man, I look great today I wish someone could see me' ... you know what I mean :)? So I started blogging and sharing and it makes me feel good on bad days and better on already good days. I love my life and I love myself, so its not that I need my blog to be happy, but its a little nice extra that gives every meal and every outfit a little more attention and a little more importance :)

    xx

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  9. Great question. I started blogging because I do like fashion, accessible fashion and I like the thought that goes into deciding what to wear. I also need to practice my writing so I thought a blog might be a good place to start.

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  10. You're awesome. This is exactly why I blog (now) because I've met some really cool people with big ideas and amazing personalities. I wish I knew more of you bloggers in real life!

    But the reason why I started blogging is not the reason why I blog now. A few years ago, my life spiraled out of control. Everything I knew back then turned out to be completely different. I needed an escape. I came across a fashion blog by accident and I was hooked. I wanted to be like this confident blogger who could share her stories with the world and wear what ever she wanted. I was always into fashion, so I thought, why not chronicle what I wear? Now I'm hooked! I love it. And as I mentioned before, I come across now bloggers all the time that are so interesting.

    xo Azu

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  11. I ask myself that question sometimes, and I think I blog so I can look back at my adventures and things that I like. I love the friends that you make all around the world, people you have never met but that you consider a great friend.

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  12. Good question. I started one because I loved the dialogue and the opportunity to write a stream of consciousness and just generally waffle after reading my friend Rach's one. It was an outlet for stress during my teacher training, it was a place for me to chart a log of books. I guess, when I saw someone doing something that I like and am interested in anyway, then I want to do this because I have that common interest and want to share it. I started doing craft posts because I was doing it anyway and thus wanted to share what I did. Similarly, with the outfit shots, I wanted to join in the fun as I have/had an extensive wardrobe that wanted to get in on the act, even though I am not fashionable!x

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  13. And nowadays, I just love connecting with the bloggy friends I've made!

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  14. This is very interesting =) I personally started blogging because I wanted to communicate with other people with similar interests...I love fashion and of course I like to interact with people, especially from abroad...with the blog it seems to me to travel around the world since I get to talk to people from overseas and different countries ! I used to have another kind of blog in another period of my life, with no pics and just my ramblings, more like a diary. I met a special male friend thanks to it, we're still close friends and love him to bits. Thanks to our blogs we all feel less lonely, don't we ?. Kisses

    Fashion and Cookies

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  15. I wanted to blog, I had followed blogs for over 2 years, my comment name wasn't even mine, I was awkward and quite shy even when I originally commented, but blogworld is a wonderful welcoming place and I gradually wanted to do my own blog, I don't have any subject (I don't think!)but it has brought me a lot of happiness - ps you ask such good questions x x

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  16. I blog because I feel I am obliged to offer voices and opinions others otherwise wouldn't make. With the variety of content online, I feel it is important to offer my own quality material to cyberspace. I feel it is one of the best ways I can contribute to society based on something I can do to the best of my ability and enjoy. One other aspect I enjoy is that I am responsible for myself. In other words, while I could say almost whatever I want however I want to say it, at least I know I am responsible for my conduct in stating certain things rather than someone look over me telling me what I can and can't say. Those are basically the primary reasons why I blog and love blogging.

    johnbmarine.blogspot.com

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  17. Great question! After I started working from home, I started blogging to keep myself accountable to get out of my yoga pants and dress in a real outfit on a daily basis. I never thought people would actually read it or enjoy it! Then I joined a few link parties and the rest is history. I definitely feel accountable now, BIG TIME! :)

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  18. I started blogging because I often felt so great in what I was wearing I hated to take it off. Blogging was a way I could extend that outfit high, for lack of another way to put it. And it was a way of reaching out to others who understand the impact that our coverings have on our well-being. My city is teeming with grey and sweatpants and neutrals, I was also feeling frustrated.

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  19. Why do I blog? I need the attention. I have no friends. Well? It's true.

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  20. I use my blog as a way to keep in touch with friends, sell things I make, make new friends. Explore new fashions, document my experiments, learn from past mistakes.

    My blog started solely for fashion, and yes, some days the fashion part is farthest from my mind. Sometimes I just want to keep the connection going. I find showing my face/seeing that on other people's blogs - it makes our words more concrete, more real. Giving us a person to connect with.

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  21. I started my blog as a way to share my work. I get asked a lot of questions about my embroidery and it is a nice way to open up a dialogue about my creations. It has evolved over the last 18 months to encompass other aspects of my life. I never really thought about the people who would read my posts but now it is so nice to make connections with people from all over the world. I have formed some great friendships from my blog.

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  22. Because it makes me feel normal. Somedays, it's all that does :D

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  23. Replies
    1. Ok, seriously. I no sooner seem to make woman friends than they move away. I started thinking about personal style during a period of enforced downtime and no money in one of my many semesters, and I wanted to share the cool things I found in thrift stores.

      Once I started reading personal style blogs, I really liked the personalities of the people whose blogs I was drawn to- I didn't find people who dressed like me, but I felt I found people who dressed in the same spirit. I loved your open curiosity and Gracey's wit. I decided to make a style blog too so I could 'meet' these cool style bloggers on their own turf!

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  24. I think we all blog for actually quite similar reasons - we like to share and want to reach out to people.

    I started blogging for two reasons - I wanted somewhere to write as I was not getting any opportunities anywhere else, and I wanted somewhere to share my thoughts and photos. A few years on and I am realising that while my blog has developed into something I am quite proud of, I need to consciously remember my original aims and make it more about my journey again.

    I love to read blogs by other people about their lives and journeys. I follow many blogs and am always on the lookout for more - anything from motorcycling, outdoors, photography, life skills, and lots of other things too.

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  25. i blog because i have a lot of knowledge to share that i know can help people. i can remember crying at 3 bc i didn't want to leave my GM's salon. i can remember at 4 trying to give my sister a perm or creating my first diy. btw i thought if Comet cleaned dishes, then maybe it should be used on teeth...not a good idea! ;)
    so yes, i've had a life-long love affair with beauty, reading and observing all of the knowledge i can. and after reading one too many "bad" beauty blogs--you can tell they are simply recycling tips/info that DON'T work, i had to start my own.

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  26. I started blogging after reading some other fashion blogs and thought "hey, I could do that too!". I also had more time on my hands after my wedding (since wedding planning is like another job) and I thought blogging would be a fun new hobby. I continue to blog now because of my love for fashion and all of the wonderful blogging friends I've made!

    -Sharon
    The Tiny Heart

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  27. I started blogging because I needed an escape from writing my thesis. Almost three years later, I continue to blog because I love interacting with the community and sharing my adventures with them!

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  28. I started blogging because I had just come back from volunteering abroad and realised that I should have started when I was there. I was also extremely bored and even though I knew I would have few readers (on about 7 at the moment), I still fancied writing what was essentially a public diary. I did want to fashion blog but then I looked at others and were so bored of their picture spam and 'this is what I wore today etc' and not much else, I didn't want to do that, especially as I have Lookbook for that. Sometimes when I'm feeling particularly clever, I'll blog about my supremely clever idea, even if nobody cares. It does take effort remembering to take and put photos on the blog but it is worth it in the end. I don't document my life all the time but many other things, quotes, pictures etc because that's what pops into my head and I want to record it down and share with others

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  29. I started blogging about my scooter adventures for fun. I have never really thought of why I went into such a public forum to voice thoughts and anecdotes. I think it may have been an effort to reach out to other middle age folks who were too nervous or too afraid to try something like riding and to meet others who were like me just trying to figure it all out. I have met some really great people through my blog and it is fun peeking into other people's life journey.

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  30. Oh dear. Hope I am not the one in ordinary outfits. Sounds a bit damning.

    I blog because I joined a few week-long challenges, sent the blooger-in-charge a Flickr link- and they asked me where my blog was! Also, I really enjoy photography, even though I need a new camera that actually catures detail. Getting my tripod out makes me happy. Another reason - I really like the little details of clothes and shoes and gaving a chat about them with others makes me happy. Finally - it means I am connected up to an amazing group of people across the world who I care about, as well as caring about their outfits xx

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  31. my blog was originally created for styling items in my little online shop. i liked giving customers ideas on how to wear the items. over time, it's still that, even though i style most of my own clothes now, but it's also a hobby...something i can call my own. with kids, they are your life. i needed a place i could still be ME, not MOM! although, the minis are slowly creeping into the blog, lol!

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  32. I blog because it's my own spot. I feel lack of being on my own sometimes and blog is spledid to make it work better. and it's a hobby, a habit. for now I can take a hiatus for 2 weeks may be, not more. I miss blogging, became addicted to it so much!

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  33. There are a few different reasons why I blog, but the largest one for me is because it's my respite, my sanctuary, and one of my greatest sources of joy. I began my blog 4.5 years ago at a time when I was going through an especially hellish period on the health front. It seemed like 99% of my waking thoughts and actions were focusing on my health (because they needed to be), yet I wanted something that was a million miles away from the sober realities of all that in my life, too. As I'd always adored mid-century history and fashion, and had been wearing vintage clothing for many years, it seemed like a natural subject to begin a blog, a creative outlet, about. I named my blog as I did because I felt that my site would help give me an identity not only as a person why was (is) chronically ill, but as someone who was (is) chronically vintage.

    I hope with all my heart that I'll always be able to keep blogging, if my health will permit, because it's truly become one of the brightest, best and most important things in the whole wide world for me.

    ♥ Jessica

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  34. Interesting post.

    I started blogging after stumbling across the blog of one of your followers.

    She suggested that I start my own blog and post about makeup etc. I struggled with ideas for blog posts at first and ended up using it as a way of expressing my femininity and using it as an outlet to express my thoughts and feelings as well as jotting down my fashion ideas and inspirations, as well as posting about any feminine things I like etc.

    I always have ideas on things to post regarding my thoughts and feelings but I'm rubbish with words at times and end up not blogging about them in the end.

    Sometimes a busy lifestyle can distract us from the blogging world but I do try and visit the blogs I follow and I've promised myself that I'll make more effort to post to my blog too.

    Lotte
    http://in-the-pink-fog.blogspot.co.uk

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  35. I rarely know what I'm going to blog about before I put my fingers on the keyboard. I enjoy writing and also crave connection and validation.

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  36. Great question.
    For me it's about keeping track of what i wear... seeing what i get rid of... but i must accept that the personal connection with other bloggers is super important. Its finding people with common interests...

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  37. Oh jeez what a mind popping question. At first, I blogged as an escape. I feel like I don't fit in where I am (not to say that I lack attention or anything), and very few people talk about fashion. I did it as a hobby and a "side dish" at first, but now it became the entrée and I'm quite glad because I feel less and less alone in my interest every day.

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