Personal Blogging|Blogging for the love of it

Mosaic by Niki Robinson

Lorelle at Wordpress published a series of posts recently on Personal Blogging, by guest blogger Edrei Zahari. (You'll find links to the whole series at the bottom of each post; don't neglect the comments.) In response, Damien Riley confesses that "Personal blogging has become my fixation," and points to The Online Diary History Project for some context.

I was pleased to see these, as I think this is a large -- and largely overlooked -- segment of the blogging community. Most of the writing about blogging is aimed at the probloggers -- that is, business bloggers (or meta-bloggers) who are blogging for money. Most of the mainstream media attention goes to political bloggers, who blog about power, and may make a bit of money while they do so (or not.)

Problogger seems a completely appropriate name for these folks; a melding of professional and blogger.

From The Free Dictionary:

    pro·fes·sion·al  (pr-fsh-nl)
    adj.
    1.
        a. Of, relating to, engaged in, or suitable for a profession: lawyers, doctors, and other professional people.
        b. Conforming to the standards of a profession: professional behavior.
    2. Engaging in a given activity as a source of livelihood or as a career: a professional writer.
    3. Performed by persons receiving pay: professional football.
    4. Having or showing great skill; expert: a professional repair job.

n.
    1. A person following a profession, especially a learned profession.
    2. One who earns a living in a given or implied occupation: hired a professional to decorate the house.
    3. A skilled practitioner; an expert.

Then we have:

    am·a·teur  (m-tûr, -tr, -chr, -chr, -tyr)
    n.
    1. A person who engages in an art, science, study, or athletic activity as a pastime rather than as a profession.
    2. Sports An athlete who has never accepted money, or who accepts money under restrictions specified by a regulatory body, for participating in a competition.
    3. One lacking the skill of a professional, as in an art.

adj.
    1. Of or performed by an amateur.
    2. Made up of amateurs: an amateur cast.
    3. Not professional; unskillful.

Except in sports, where it's understood that amateur status merely precedes the professional (or the Olympics) this word has become a bit of a put-down:

ama·teur·ism n.
    Synonyms: amateur, dabbler, dilettante

But let's not forget from whence it came:

  [French, from Latin amtor, lover, from amre, to love.]

So what of those -- we amateurs -- who blog for the love of it; who are not dabblers or dilettantes; who work hard to acquire the skills and expertise to write well, and blog well; but do not put ads on our blogs, and are not paid for our efforts? Who blog for fun (not profit); for family and friends and interested strangers; for the joys and pleasures of creating something useful, or entertaining, or beautiful. Or even, goddess willing, all three.

We, and our blogs, rest somewhere between the personal diaries and friendship communities where relationships are key for both writers and readers; where content matters because of who creates it, rather than how well it is presented -- and those business/ professional blogs that are written consultant to client, or service to consumer, or proselytizer to converts and prospects.

We -- those of us in this undefined, middle ground -- may not be sure what we are doing, or what we are making; but we are not unprofessional. We are not unskillful.

To the extent we read advice about blogging aimed at probloggers, we both increase our expertise, and become more confused. Much of the advice, about ad placement and SEO and professional networking -- and even design -- seems irrelevant -- or at least, we wish it were. We hope it is.

We just want people who might like us to find us.

I read these blogs: ProBlogger, Lorelle, Rebecca Blood, Burningbird, molly.com, The Blog Herald (and many others - check the Blogging & Tech folder in my Bloglines) and have from the beginning, because I'm one of those compulsive folks who want to do it right.

It's always been a push-pull for me, though, because I also read the kind of blog (if there is such a kind) that I write: no particular niche, no hope of making money, just a bit of whimsy and a bit of depth. An attempt to reach some balance of such on the blog, and in my life.

It's an odd thing. On pro-blogs, humor is allowed; serious is allowed; depth is allowed -- but whimsy is discouraged. Firmly. Discouraged.

But for me -- and for many of the bloggers I read -- that whimsy, that silliness, that temptation to act out in whatever style suits us -- seems to be the engine, and the ignition, for our writing. Whether it's pictures of our cats, or widgets and badges, or ridiculous quizzes -- we like them. We like to share them. We like to pass them back and forth.

But we're actually quite serious about what we do. We want our blogs to look good, to work well, and to express what we present with some eloquence and style.

Thus, the dilemma. Let's see -- should I be writing, or marketing? All this whimsy slows loading -- that's bad. How will people know what to expect, when I keep changing the subject? Gosh, my About Page is all wrong. Do I really need to belong to all these social networks to find readers? How many blog directories are there, anyway? What category does Watermark belong in?

I do believe this may be the introduction to a series of related posts. I'm even considering reactivating Blogging Blog as a niche blog for my kind of blogger.

We shall see.

Is there something in particular you'd like me to talk about? What would you have wanted to know when you began being a blogger?

Do you blog for the love of it? Because you can't help yourself?

And if you don't blog, why don't you?

blogging

[The mosaic above was a gift from my friend Niki. She found the watercolor reproduction in a book, and was inspired to make the frame. It's my favorite of all her mosaics.]

Comments

[Michael from Pro Blog Design]

I like to read a mixture of both types of blogs. Reading Problogger, Copyblogger etc. teaches me how to write more useful posts, but reading Lorelle and the like reminds me to continue being a person, not an article-writer.

Have you read Liz Strauss's blog before? (http://www.successful-blog.com). It's another great blog which focuses on community and life, rather than just Adsense etc.

[Lorelle]

I thought I'd commented on this earlier, so forgive my lateness to the party. This is wonderful. I'm so glad that Edrei's guest posts on my blog touched you. I want to write more about the issue of personal blogging, and you've given me a ton of inspiration. Thank you!

[SB]

Thank you, both, for your comments.

As is no doubt apparent, this is a theme close to my heart.