Why I Blog: The Meme

Mike Sansone of ConverStations tagged me and four other business bloggers with the “Why I Blog” meme. I know this doesn’t have a heckuva lot to do with HR today, so you can put this one down to “Getting to know your local gunfighter….I mean, writer.”

5 Reasons I Blog

The Special Interest Factor. I started writing a personal blog in the summer of 2004. At that time I was very interested in the political process and the blog was an outlet for some thoughts. Two-and-a-half years later, that blog is still thriving and I’ll soon post my 2,000th article. I’ve gotten to know a lot of people in the blogging community through that writing (Philadelphia has a very active meetup group) and have on the order of 2,500 unique visitors a day. I’m proud of that work. We fired up KnowHR Blog in August 2006, and within a couple of weeks of starting we found ourselves atop Digg, del.icio.us, and Reddit all on the same day for our post Top 10 Best Presentations Ever. We still get 500+ visitors a day just for that piece.

The Audience Interaction Factor. What I like most about blogging is what Mike calls “the conversation.” The comments that I get, and the thought they stimulate, is what it’s all about for me. I can still remember like it was yesterday when I got my first comment years ago. There was validation in that. Now, I still get a thrill, even if the number of comments that I’ve gotten in my blog writing is somewhere north of 10,000. I still like hearing from people. One thing I’ve tried to more of this year is remember to read and comment more. Everyone I know likes comments. It’s the Horton Hears a Who! Moment — “We are here! We are here!”

The Jeopardy Factor. I’ve always been a collector of useless information, so what better place to find out about the weird and mundane than on the “internets”? With the advent of RSS and some darned good RSS readers (I totally dig Google Reader), I am able to read a broad spectrum of posts, keep up with my friends, and still have time to read about Paris, Britney and Lindsay. My Google Reader stats for the month show that from my 103 subscriptions I read 5,077 items, starred 55 items, and shared 5 items. I must have learned something!

The Marketplace of Ideas Factor. I have a few ideas still rattling around up there in my pumpkin. And blogging is a good outlet. The really great thing about blogging for me is that it keeps my writing muscles in shape. In Hemingway’s crisp words, “Writers write.” I work in the HR business, so I try to keep up on the latest and greatest material out there. And I try to let my readers know. I’d like to think people have learned a thing or two by reading KnowHR Blog.

The ADD Factor. Nope, even though this is an HR-focused blog, ADD doesn’t mean accidental death & dismemberment, it means ADD. I like writing fast, doing a minimum amount of editing, and moving on. That suits how I work, how I think, and how quickly I get bored (fast). So, when I blog, I gather information quickly, write down the bones, and hit publish. I re-read my stuff, so if there are errors, I definitely try to correct them (it’s pretty unsettling to see people not pay attention to spelling and grammar just because they’re speed writing).

I’m sure there are a hundred more reasons why I do what I do, but that’s a pretty good start. I’m going to come back and tag a few people this afternoon when I do my read-through (see #5).

About the Author

Frank Roche

Frank started IFRACTAL over 7 years ago with Sarah Chambers. Together, they've created HR communications and HR software for some of the world's leading companies. Frank is also studying Flamenco guitar and origami.

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