Why We Blog

I read an interesting article on ZDNET, a technology news website. It analyzes the nature of blogging and it's similarities to rap culture. I won't really go into that. What was more interesting to me is that it does a good job of listing why we blog, why we read blogs and how it helps us to both think and write:

• " ... Blogging is part e-mail, it is part column, it is part news story–it can encompass a wide variety of styles and formats. And it is all within an environment that encourages trying things out, it encourages "beta releases," every "t" doesn't need to be crossed, it can be raw."

• " ... What I noticed was that "keeping it real" was real important in both blogging and in the Hip-Hop/Rap music scene. Keeping it real is something which you can't fake–you know it when you hear/feel it. ... if you can't keep it real it really shows."

• " ... this phenomena is also affecting my off-line life. For example, it is really difficult for me to tell a white lie such as "I got caught in traffic" or "I'm late, my cat died." It just feels too weird and it just "reads" strangely if I try to write it.

• "I remember the first time I met Jeremy Zawodny, Yahoo's top blogger, we discussed this topic. He asked me a question, "What do you do if if you can't keep it real?"
  
  I told him that was easy: "Just don't say it.""

• "One of the things I learned this past year was that the more I write (blog) the more authentic I become online and off-line. There is something in the process of writing (blogging) that has opened up an entirely new experience of myself."

• "And I often have an experience of being able to "think" through my fingers. For example, I will start typing an analysis of a tech industry news event, and it is the act of writing that allows me to "think it through." That usually means scrapping the first draft and ending up with a much better piece."

Here's the original article:

Blogosphere should pay its respects to rap culture