Blogging

I find this post to be a little ironic as I am actually blogging about blogging. Although maybe it isn’t really that ironic, as blogging has become such a force in our world today. According to Dictionary.com, blogging has only been a “thing” since 1995 and is now used as a noun as to own your own blog, and a verb as the action of blogging. The question that filled my mind this week as I have thought a lot about blogging is, why do people blog? What’s the point? As you can probably tell, I am new to the world of blogging, and I don’t ask these questions to try and ridicule this whole new world of the web. I simply feel that I could become a better blogger if I knew why and how these passionate blog authors felt. Here’s where my thoughts lead me:

http://learninglab.wbur.org/2016/01/19/a-teacher-a-committee-member-and-a-parent-walk-into-a-blog/

This article was written about a high school history teacher named, Michael Milton. He states early on in the article, “It was just like I had all these things stored up that I wanted to say. I hope that putting myself out there, that’s kind of like showing ‘Here’s the mind of a teacher, here’s what teachers do.'”  Milton as a teacher feels that he never has the opportunity of interacting with other adults. The article recognizes that this thought process isn’t exactly true, but it helped me to realize that I am sure there are many teachers who feel this way. As well as I am sure that there are people all over the world that feel that not only do they not have the option to talk to adults, but maybe they feel that they don’t have anyone at all to speak with. Blogging provides a place for strangers from every corner of the world to come together and chat about what they are interested in. With the push of the button, all of your ideas and thoughts can be expressed to an audience innumerable. Later on in this article the idea of blogging as a space for parents to express the way they feel about their student’s education is discussed. For many people blogging, isn’t about making personal relationships but just getting things off their chest. In an article on a well-known site The Boot,

 http://theboot.com/rory-feek-blog-therapy/

helped me to grasp this concept a little further. This article refers to a blog that is written by Rory Feek from the singing duo Joey and Rory. Rory as the author of this blog writes about his wife, Joey’s, terminal cancer. He began the blog many years ago before she was diagnosed with this devastating disease. Joey is quoted saying that blogging for him has become “therapeutic” and a way to “capture memories” of his sweetheart. As I reflected on these two articles I now understand why people blog, and I believe that the best bloggers are those that are fiercely passionate about what they write about. Blogging gives anyone and everyone the opportunity to be an author of their favorite stories. Blogging allows these stories to be shared on a very personal level, that I believe can truly move people. I am excited to be joining what seems to be an immense family of bloggers, and begin to tell my own life stories