The Blogging Question

There are decisions and questions that by virtue of their difficulty one might put aside to be dealt with on another day. Then there are those dilemmas which one tends to put on the back burner, not because they are hard to unravel, but because of the fear of having to face up to the implications of any conclusions arrived at from analyses of the dilemma.

Most bloggers will have suffered from mild symptoms of blogyndrome, when one begins to question the value, usefulness and indeed validity of one's blogging activity. The usual remedy at the early stage of the syndrome is to push the questions to the ‘back of the head.’ Those who pay a little more attention to the emerging malaise soon find that the syndrome is not such an easy one to deal with and cure.

There is, however a limit as to how long one can go on putting off facing up to the inevitable question of one’s blogging activity and dealing with the fallout from such an encounter. So how does one face up to and deal with the question that will not go away - to blog or not blog? To answer this question the starting point I think has to be gaining an understanding of the reasons why we started, and why we have been blogging up to now. This introspection naturally has to include a look at what benefits we have gained through our blogging activity, be it social, monetary, emotional, or therapeutic.

To succeed in this self-examination exercise it is necessary to be honest with oneself and to not be afraid to lay bare the true motives for embarking on the blogging path. Although most unlikely, it is entirely possible that it may transpire that one has been foolishly wasting hour upon hour of one’s time with little or no benefit to oneself or others.

It is only fair having pontificated on the blogging question, I come clean whether I have faced up to this question. Clearly not, as the few infrequent visitors to my blog will have observed. Not a squeal, though mind you, I have on occasions in my comments, referred to the nagging question (“…the question of whether to blog or not blog will simply not go away. So I may abstain for a while....”). So the best I can claim is that I have let the question around blogging simmer on the burner, with my fingers getting singed because I haven’t paid attention.

So what was the decision, after all the simmering and bubbling? To put it simply, there was no decision. In retrospect, this clever ruse by me to abstain for a while slowly, but surely extricated me from the blogosphere. Though it is not a course I would necessarily recommend to other bloggers, for it leaves a sour taste in one’s mouth. And let’s face it, who am I to pontificate?

It would be remiss of me if I failed to mention the other side of the coin, namely that one’s motive for blogging may be altogether noble and commendable, such as sharing useful information, and promoting something one believes in. I guess the bottom line is the blog is here to stay, a tool that is still evolving in the way it is used and in the function it performs. Maybe one should not become too wedged in the groove of the blogging question while the birds still soar freely in the open blue skies.

1/8/07