Why Do We Blog?
Fellow blogger-named-Matt (Rognlie) has some good points on why we bloggers with low readership still do it:
It’s simple: I find that blogging is a good way to achieve self-comprehension. My mind is often clogged with disembodied facts and ideas, too disorganized to get any clear picture of an issue. Writing forces me to assemble the relevant facts in one place, explaining them cogently enough that my few loyal readers don’t leave in disgust. After I’m done, my posts become useful references for the future, brimming with links and numbers and argumentation that I don’t have the presence of mind to summon on my own.
This is why I plow ahead, maintaining this inconsistent and questionably literate blog against all odds. Occasionally I’ll look back and grimace: did I actually write that? But as anyone who knows me will attest, my writing here shines in comparison to the extemporaneous stammering I employ in conversation. Blogging may not be my strength, but it’s the most effective means of communication I have.
There’s really not very much to add to this. I’m basically thinking about politics and the other stuff I blog about all the time (this is probably more of a curse than a gift). The blog lets me get those thoughts out in some sort of coherent form and refine them into real arguments and observations. Otherwise, I’d just be ranting at my friends, family and myself, which wouldn’t do anyone much good.
But on the matter of Rognlie specifically, it’s really a damn shame that he’s as little-read as he claims. This dude is smart, like scary smart. I’d say that at least half of his posts actually make me say “hmm, never really thought about it that way,” which is something that can’t be said about many bloggers, 19 or not.
