Bloggin' Bennies

So, if a blog gets written in the forest, and no one reads it, was it really ever written at all?

When I talk about blogs and blogging, someone invariably asks, why write it if only a handful of people are going to read it? The past week has brought out a couple of excellent reasons:

1. Writing helps clarify content in your own mind. Why are you posting that link? Do you really think that most medical librarians deserve to lose their jobs? Once it's posted, it's out there for everyone to see, and that's a powerful incentive to be sure what you are writing really makes sense.

This benefit of blogging came up while Teri Hartman and I were writing an article on blogging for the Plains to Peaks Post.

2. Someone you don't know might come up to you at a conference and say, "YOU'RE WHITNEY [insert your name here]! My friend and I LOVE your blog." This actually happened to me, and I was just pleased as punch.

3. You might find out that people you do know and like read your blog. Turnabout is fair play, and here are links to Tim Rogers and Erica Reynolds. You may even find readers you don't know very well but like anyway are reading what you write.

Carve a little community out of your corner of cyberspace, and start a blog. Send me the link, and I promise I'll read.

WDT

PS--I'm not into Moby Dick like Erica is, but my favorite tale of all time, of any length, is Bartleby the Scrivener. It doesn't matter how much noise we make; is it a "difference that makes a difference, or a silence like that of the tomb?"