Blogging Expectations
A few days ago I ran across the post Blogging Expectations by Kev Quirk, and a quick read told me that it was something I wanted to add my commentary to.
…Okay, I just glanced at the date on Kev’s post. “A few days ago” was over a week ago. Apparently my backlog of post ideas is taking longer to review than I anticipated.
Anyhow, today I re-read Kev’s post, and (of course) followed the links to the posts his thoughts were based on, and a few thoughts stuck out to me.
I’m haunted by a feeling that it’s all about attention and that I’m doing everything in my power to hide that reason from myself. That thought leaves a bitter aftertaste, and I’m not comfortable with it.
I like attention, I want my blog posts to sometimes show up in Hacker News or get shared on big social media sites … I want people to send me an email sharing their thoughts or opinion on it …
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with wanting to have engagement from your writing. Similarly to Joel, I love it when I get engagement from my posts - I enjoy the discourse that comes from them. The recommendations. The friendships. It’s great.
Sure, I write for myself, but I also write for you guys too. Does that make me an attention seeker, or an narcissist? Maybe, but so what. 🤷♂️
Sometimes I ponder why I write blog posts. Is it for myself, as a way to process things? As a way to attempt to get engagement, and seek attention? As a way for friends and family (and future Justin) to see what is/was going on at any given date?
I think for me, it’s a little of all of the above. I like having a singular place on the internet that I can point people to and say “This is Justin’s virtual home. You want to know what Justin is thinking, or what’s going on? Start here!” And I hope that’s been reflected in my blogging and my site design, although I know I could do a better job of it if I’d focus on it.
I also like feedback and interactions with others on the internet. Does a lack of interaction cause me to stop posting? No, but an increase in interactions does cause me to increase my posting. Is that a problem? Similar to Kev, I don’t think it is, as long as I don’t let attention seeking become the driving force for my blogging. 🤷♂️