BSU Blog Fest: Day One - Why Do I Blog?

I'm excited to participate in Bridgewater State University's second year of Blog Fest, a one-week adventure exploring the thoughts and ideas of several students, faculty members, and staff members in daily, themed blogs.  It's a highlighted feature of our Social Media Week, hosted by the Office of Student Involvement and Leadership, as the campus community engages in the promotion and education of all that is social media.  For this week, I'll use my personal blog, "Goodharted Thoughts," to share my personal experiences, as well as my professional experience as a Resident Director, in the context of BSU's Blog Fest.  

Monday's BlogFest Theme: Blogging

Day One of this year's Blog Fest focuses on the concepts of blogging: "Why does one choose to blog?  What makes a blog amazing, good, or sub-par?  If one wanted to start blogging, how should they begin?"

Folks start blogs for a variety of reasons.  I actually have two blogs that were created for very different purposes.  The first, "Take a Goodhart Look at Genealogy," explores the realm of family history and genealogy.  I started my first blog post in April of 2009 after I attended my first genealogical conference.  Genealogy is a huge personal passion for me.  My paternal grandfather researched much of the family's paternal line, and he passed along all of his research to me.  I began my own genealogical research in the summer of 2006, and I expanded the research to the rest of my family.  Ultimately, I got hooked, attended conferences, met fellow cousins who are also genealogists, and earned a certificate in genealogical research at Boston University.  I regret that I haven't updated that blog in nearly a year.  It needs some renewed TLC from me at some point!

In June of 2010, I decided that I also wanted a blog that gave me the freedom to express my personal and professional thoughts within a much broader scope than my genealogy blog could offer.  That's how my "Goodharted Thoughts" blog took off.  I use this blog to inspire, to vent, to educate, or just provide personal life updates.  That June, I had walked my first half-marathon.  I was so pumped about it that I wanted to make my thoughts public.  Facebook and Twitter don't really do justice when one wants to explore topics in great depth, and one can reach a greater audience through blogs.

I find it easy to update my personal blog because I can go in whatever direction I like.  I've found that a blog should be consistent in a particular purpose.  My genealogy blog is for the sole purpose of discussing genealogy because that's my target audience.  But my personal blog is more like an interactive journal; mostly friends and family read it, although I get an occasional reader from outside my immediate social circles - especially when it comes to my "Gut Feelings" topics focused on my intestinal issues.  I'm most proud of those particular blog posts because they're meant to educate and bring people together who deal with similar challenges.  These posts also cover the hardest topics for me to discuss - and I've received the most feedback from all kinds of people on those blog posts (read my first Gut Feelings post, if you like). 

I blog because I enjoy expressing my thoughts in writing.  I am a writer at heart.  As an introvert, I feel that my opinions are best shared that way.  Blogging allows me the flexibility to ponder something as much and for as long as I want, and then to articulate things exactly how I intend.  It's my creative outlet - much as writing poetry was for me through high school, college, and graduate school - or my story telling in elementary school days.  I actually get a bit of a "high" from blogging. 

I've heard some people state they don't really appreciate blogs in general because they're mainly personal soapboxes. To some extent, that can be true.  Those blogs are best to read if that blogger is a close friend or family member who you enjoy reading about.  But I've seen some excellent examples of blogs that are epicenters for discussion.  One of my favorite blogs - one that is purpose-driven, consistently updated, and engaging with community members - is "Marian's Roots and Rambles."  Her blog does such a great job discussing the latest news in genealogy and sparking thought-provoking questions.

If you ever decide you want to start blogging, you just need to choose your goals and stick with them.  Consider how your blog will look - it doesn't have to be super fancy, as long as it's easy to navigate and accurately reflects your purposes.  There are plenty of blog hosting sites and platforms - my personal favorite is (of course) Blogger, but there are others like Wordpress and tumblr.  Much of that choice depends on how much control you want over the look and feel of your blog, or how much technical knowledge you have.  One of the main advantages of Blogger is that it is associated with Google; therefore, you're likely to see your blog posts higher up in Google search engine results.

A few words of warning, though.  Once you start blogging, it's so hard to stop!

You can follow Mike Goodhart on Twitter at @mtgoodha.