Why Everybody Needs a Personal Blog and Why It Matters in the Long Run

As I already mentioned in my latest blog post about why your voice matters, expressing yourself in a creative, or just in the most literal sense, is wildly important. That said, it may seem hypocritical of me to both promote self-expression online and to complain about the scale of the information-overload we’re subjected to daily. However, I reckon that there is a very big difference between niche, self-managed personal blogs where the author provides their information, experience, personal stance, and the neverending stream of marketing going on social media in all forms imaginable. There is also the point that ads are almost always unwanted and unsolicited, meanwhile, if you’re currently reading my words on this page, it was most probably due to your own wish, to see what I got to say on this particular topic.

Overall, you can’t go wrong with putting yourself out there, no matter the number of mental barriers we often put in front of ourselves. Yet, it’s not like everyone you know and their mother has a personal blog, right? It can feel almost too self-important, all look at me, I’m ranting long-form on the internet, so what I’m saying must be all so important. But it’s often not even about making a point. I’ve found myself using this blog as a reason to contemplate topics in-depth that I already have an interest in, that I would have thought about anyway. So why not share? The worst thing that may happen is … for someone not to like what I have to say? This potential disadvantage is far outweighed by the numerous positives, including, but not limited to - the relief of putting words down on paper (digital paper in my case), the introspective effect it has on my psyche, the potential positive reaction from you guys, the way it helps me express myself better. So many pluses, so few minuses.

And while you probably already agree with me on why it is not a bad idea to start your own blog/site, let me now tell you why it actually a GREAT idea.

Make your own small island in the vast sea of content

The content being produced every day really can feel overwhelming, and it is not hard to figure out why. For me, the content that overwhelms me too often the one I didn’t really agree to consume but did so anyway. This includes ads, TV, overall, corporations, and people trying actively to get to me. Meanwhile, if I find myself listening to a podcast or reading a blog post, it is always because I want to hear this particular person speak or because the topic intrigues me, which results in a positive experience in 100% of cases. This leads me to my main point - why don’t you become such a place for others?

I don’t have tons of friends, but the few I have in my close circle are really dear to me and their stories and opinions always interest me. And I think that if any of them ever started a blog series, I’d love to hear their thoughts on a number of subjects, I’d love to see them ramble on and on about their passions and guide readers to where they got themselves. It’d just be a surreal experience, in a good way.

It would be a bit of fresh air to see people expand on their projects, their opinions, their missions, or even on a smaller scale, their everyday experiences. For example, I have lots of strong opinions on what makes a good and what makes a terrible educational system, and I regret not recording most of my experiences in school in some journal/blog form. I would have been able to look back and analyze them, think about what could be done to prevent systemic injustices in the future, and overall it would be a therapeutic experience. Also, other people may have related with my state of mind, this is how ideas evolve, when they move from one person to the other. It rarely buds all on its own in your head.

So, let me give you some more particular reasons why you should take action and conquer your own little piece of our online universe.

Why your stories matter

It is very easy to undervalue your own life experience when compared to everyone else’s. But at the same time, you yourself probably have idols, you probably have people whose stories motivate you. For example, I find great inspiration in bigger and better illustrators than myself, I love to see their journeys, and I can argue that their life stories and their progress are even more motivating than their best works, even. I love to see a good journey, I want to see what obstacles they go through, mainly because I see hope for myself to get to where they did. And imagine if these people never recorded their experiences, all that progress would have been reduced to a simple output, just a bunch of illustrations (no offense to that, but as I mentioned, there is a bit more to life than the end results).

And even on a smaller scale, even something as trivial as your everyday life can become an interesting piece of content. Just like we all tell our family what we did today at the end of the day, there are always stories to tell and something to ponder about. Man, if only I recorded more of what happened to me in high school, now that would be awesome. I’d love to see more of how I matured into the person I am right now and where some of my current character traits came from.

What is more, your experiences can definitely resonate with somebody, even if it is at a later point, where your writing style and audience have both matured. More on the topic of blogging as a means to friendship in a second.

Increase your risk of exposure!

Imagine if all the people you’ll ever meet were your current friends. Not to say that they are limiting or limited in any way, but there is surely a wider spectrum of people out there for you to interact with if you allow your persona to be exposed to people from different cultures and mental headspaces. Many people, I included, can be greatly moved and motivated by others, and their influence can be a great force in my life, even if they are nowhere near me physically. This is why the Internet is such a blessing, it provides instant access between your ideas and any other person’s ideas all around the globe, no matter the distance. Plus, by indulging in the topics you find interesting in something like a blog, you’ll reach people who have vaguely the same interests, but maybe just a bit to the left or right - meaning that they may make you see your interests and the topics you think about just a little bit differently, enough to expand your mindset.

It goes the other way round as well, your ideas may find high emotional resonance in the minds of others. It is a great feeling when somebody tells you your work moved them/inspired them into some sort of action, and I think this is what we people are all about anyway - changing and influencing each other so we can experience more and more.

Be the place (special) people flock to!

Finishing up, and getting back to the metaphor of being an island in the sea of content - just think about one possibility. Your blog can become somebody’s afternoon pastime, the thing they look forward to seeing the minute you post it. Honestly, my favourite mutuals on Instagram are those who hurry to interact with my posts as soon as I publish, their excitement really makes me happy!

Of course, this will happen with this, and every other newbie blog after quite a while, but even the small incremenral growth in the beginning is really important. Seeing that number of readers grow from one digit, to 2, to 3, then to a thousand, now this takes a while, but it is so satisfying once you get there.

And one you become a bookmark on somebody’s web browser, you’ll know your stories have definitely been worth sharing at least once.