Why Blog?

By Abhijit Nadgouda

Lorelle asked me if I would guest-blog here. It was an opportunity to contribute to something built by someone you respect and admire. It feels great, even if it is a one-off chance. It is like associating yourself with something that Woz has engineered or getting to play with Zakir Hussain! How could I say no to this!

If you are still here, please bear me for a little longer. How do you think Lorelle and I have come to know each other? No, we have not met, we have not worked together, nor have we studied together – none of those Facebook options.

What we have done though, is blogged together, without ever wondering about our race, religion, language, lifestyle or profession. We have been able to converse and build this relationship because of it.

It is scary to think that I would miss such relationships if I had not listened to one of my friends and read about writing; and blogging.

Blog because …

Today I advise everyone I meet to blog. Sometimes it seems like I am a big mouth since I am only about two years old in this world.

But in another way, it is an indication of the experience and value I have seen in such a short time. It has been a tremendous learning journey, lot of therapeutic sessions with myself, and a discovery that I could build my own thought process and get others involved in it across the geographical boundaries.

There have been a lot of posts and articles about why one should blog, but believe me no one else can tell you what you can gain from it. You can only experience it, because a lot of times it leads to revelations. Let me cut it short and cite some reasons why I blog.

• I have realized that writing on a topic helps me think better and deeper, which is what I am doing as I am writing this. This has ended up in many therapeutic and introspective sessions for me, where I have realized my mistakes, my strengths and my weaknesses.
• Unlike in the publishing industry, blogging is not predefined. Every new blogger can invent his/her own way of blogging, which has evolved blogging into podcasting, photo-blogging or video-blogging. One can even choose to use one of the micro-blogging tools. There is only one best practice – express yourself.
• There is no better way of archiving my thoughts, revisiting them after some time and learning from them. A lot of times I read my year-old posts and cannot stop laughing at myself. It has helped me realize how I have grown and evolved.
• Blogging lets me have conversations. Multiple posts on a topic across multiple blogs weaves into a common thread that builds into a conversation.
• Another aspect of the conversations is to connect with others, which would simply not be possible otherwise. Blogging is a discovery vehicle that introduces me to new people based on the criteria I want. And very soon you can build relationships out of these, which is what has brought me here on this wonderful blog.
• Blogging, as a medium, takes my thoughts across the lands and seas and oceans, in a second! Is there another more effective medium?

And no one stops you from building a professional publication out of this, if you are interested. Nor will you be remanded into custody if you build a private outlet for your thoughts.

The Because Effect

What you do not see in these points is monetizing blogs. That is something you surely can do with it, but the higher ground is in the “because effect“.

The because effect is a kind of jujitsu. While other people look to make money with something, you’re finding ways of making money because of something.

Not that making money out of blogs is evil, but making money the essence of blogging can narrow your vision and value that you can provide. The because effect empowers you to do things better and some things that you thought were not possible.

A not-so-apparent result of the because effect is that it does impact others. Not necessarily in a world-changing way, but more subtly that sows the seeds to reap the benefits much later.

Blogging is a tool because of which you can learn new things, evolve yourself, build relationships, help others learn and experience this because effect.

Now, if any of you get thoughts about blogging, even for a millisecond, I will consider this post has achieved its because effect.

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Abhijit Nadgouda is a software engineer who wants to use software to solve problems and contribute to the software development world. Blogging is the medium of his choice for developing and conveying his thoughts.