What are we doing here?

I am not referring to the eternal question about our purpose in life. I am referring to all of us who are here on the internet, writing blogs.

I feel there are several different reasons why people choose to blog. Some of us come here to voice our opinions and views on current news and world events. Some of us use blogs as a (non)personal diary to record daily events that occur in our lives, using words and/or pictures.

For some of us, blogging is an excellent medium to try our hand at writing. We are all budding writer-wanna-bees and blogging provides a natural transition to express our thoughts into the written word.

We all have our reasons or combination of reasons for blogging.

Blogs definitely provide us with an outlet and an opportunity to express our inner feelings: our joys or sorrows, our political and personal views, our anger and frustrations, and our achievements and successes. Sometimes, it is easy to pour these out, and sometimes we struggle to find the right words.

Blogs allow us to show others how the world appears from our viewpoint. It not only provides the platform, but also the audience.

And that's the key. We blog for an audience. Let’s be honest about this, would you write stuff on the internet that you don’t want anyone else to read?

Most of us are well-aware of who is reading or may read our blogs, and we probably each have our set of ground-rules that we follow around what we will and will not express out here. Sometimes, we cross these boundaries when something we feel about strongly comes up and touches us.

And audiences are great influencers. We invariably keep them in the back of our minds when we begin a new post. We are intrigued by the fact that there is a world out there who may be reading what we have to say. After all, they are the ones who consume what we produce. Their anticipation of a new post is what makes us continue to write.

Whatever be the reason for our blogs, one thing is for sure. It offers a unique window for readers to take a look inside the mind of the author and see them through their writing. The blog reflects the author's personality, their views, their assumptions and their attitudes.

And it is natural for readers to form opinions about the author. And to offer comments.

Blogging is a two-way street. It needs the writer as much as it needs the reader. And what is ironic is that they are both the same people. Us.