“Aren’t blogs just self-indulgent whining?”

Yes.  Sometimes.  But you’d be remiss to say you’re not self-indulgent yourself if you’re concerned about preserving your own name by not blogging.  If you just lurk on the internet and choose not to participate, reaping the benefits of the 1% of users who create content, you are just being greedy.  And passive.  And afraid.

Blogs are also a good way to engage with other people who are taking up residence on the internet.  Oh, sure, you’ll have to sort through all the litter on the information superhighway like an ex-con draped in bright orange, but I guarantee you can find some gems.  I have.  And I’ve made some friends doing it.  I’ve found great things to read.  I’ve learned fun new dialects of English that exist only on the web.  I know shortcuts around the web to help save time.  I know stupider websites for killing time.

I’ve become a better netizen because of blogging.  It’s not just a diary.

“Aren’t blogs just for depressed emo teens who complain about life and cut themselves?”

I don’t understand how being overly emotional is something you can’t be if you’re a teenager, but no.  Where the hell have you been for the last 10 years?  Don’t you find it hard to believe that 50 million blogs are populated solely by teenagers?  That 50 million publishing sites are just depressed?  Self-absorbed?  Come on, that’s ridiculous and you know it.  Even at a 1% quality ratio, that makes 500K good blogs to read.  And there’s really something for everyone.

And even for the blogs that are journals/diaries, who are you to say you’re better for not writing something?  At least bloggers are creating content and are practicing writing.  Chances are, if you’re not writing on a regular basis, that same depressed teenager with the bad haircut is a better writer than you.

“Alright fine.  But why do you have a blog?”

I need a space to practice and learn skills in web development, and to use as a home base for experiments in social media.  I break and reconstruct this blog all the time.  Blogging is already a popular and practical publishing platform for what I do and for that in which I’m involved.  The only way to learn constructing and reconstructing is to dive headlong into it.

And the personal stuff?  That’s just good fodder for practice.  After all, there is a real person behind this username.

“Wouldn’t you rather engage with real people?”

Oh, I don’t know.  Have you considered that most of the people you meet in real life are on the net anyway?

“What if people hate you?  Wouldn’t that affect you?”

I can stand behind my writing if I don’t take this thing too seriously.  And besides, who gives a crap what people think?  And who gives a crap about what I say, anyway?