Why blog?

In the span of a few days two different friends asked my opinion about blogging, specifically how to blog consistently.  I’ll get to a few thoughts on the “how” of blogging, but it makes sense to start with the “why.”  Here are a few reasons you should seriously consider blogging and I’d be curious to know what you’d add.

• Writing is a reflective process, one that helps you see things otherwise missed.
• Blogging your thoughts, observations and questions is a way of inviting distinct responses to your own limited perspective.  Signs of Life has been a way for me to learn from an incredibly eclectic group of folks; the comments on “On being a white man in leadership” being just the most recent example.
• You have interesting ideas and observations to share and blogging will help you distill and critique these things.  Remember, what seems commonplace to you will be completely foreign-and, thus, fascinating- for many of us.  For example, one of the blogs I link to is kept by Stanford Gibson who sometimes writes about his vocational interests and expertise, scientific matters I  just barely understand but find genuinely interesting.
• At its best blogging will connect you with others who are interested in similar questions and ideas.  The trick- in my opinion- is to keep your blog from becoming a members-only club visited only by those who agree with each other.  This isn’t hard to avoid though, and after blogging for a while you’ll find yourself “conversing” with folks you never would have connected with otherwise.
• What begins on your blog will quickly spill into face-to-face conversations.  A friend will read something you wrote and offer their own thoughts and questions on the subject.  Given the significant limits of virtual communication (i.e. comments on a blog), these in-person conversations may be the best reason to begin blogging.

What other reasons would you add?

I’ll get to the “how to blog” question later this week.