The Vicious Cycle of Blogging

How things have changed since I was a kid. When I was a little girl, little did I know that what I was doing then would be emulated now that I am an adult. I’m referring to reliving my life in the form of a diary. Yes, I kept a diary. A book I fiercely guarded in my drawer with lock and key. It was a means of escape for me, where I would rant and rave for all I cared. I complained to my diary about incidents that happened to me and cried my heart out in its lined pages. The words would just come naturally then, and I found solace in the fact that *someone* was lending me an *ear*. I think I started when I was in secondary school. It was extremely addictive and I would pour my heart and soul into that diary of mine. Now that I am an adult, I keep a diary too. The difference is that it is for all to see. And people do not only get to peek into the innermost corners of my mind as I translate them into words, they also get to chip in with their comments too! That’s the new age diary for ya. Back then, when I jotted religiously into that diary of mine, there was no backspace and delete key to be used, and I couldn’t care less how the words showed up on the pages. But now, with a blog, I have readers in mind…readers I akin to as the *customers* of my blog. So I need to make sure the message I have in my head is transferred to my users in the best plausible manner.

And that’s not an easy task sometimes, I would say.

So blogging and keeping a diary…. not much of a difference, is there? In the days of yore, mention a diary and you would imagine a leather-bound book kept in the strictest level of confidence ever, far far away from the prying eyes of siblings, friends and especially parents. Nowadays I am not even sure if teenagers keep diaries anymore. Wrangling a pen and a book might not be the coolest thing now, you know. But hanging out at the nearest Starbucks (wi-fi access included), with an open laptop, most certainly is. Yes, I bet most teenagers own a blog or two, at the very least. There are so many blog hosting companies out there who are hosting blogs for free. And when one person in a clique starts a blog, the rest are bound to follow. If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em, that’s what they say. Of course, with a blog, it does takes some ingenuity to prevent it from being *accidentally discovered* by parents, or people you do not want to reveal your blog to. Using nicknames and not revealing photos are just a few methods employed by bloggers to ensure that level of mystery and secrecy.

Blogging beats keeping a diary also because in most cases, blogs help generate income. Be it from blog adverts paying the blogger when blog visitors click on ads on their blogs or when the blogger gets paid to blog about things he/she loves, income gained from blogs can be anything from a measly few cents a week to a jaw-dropping few thousand in a month, or even more! Unless you published your diary in the form of a memoir or a book ala Anne Frank, I doubt many would pay to read your innermost thoughts.

Blogging is indeed the diary of the new millennium. It is also an avenue to make new friends, albeit friends whom you have never met before, but refer to them using their monikers. Isn’t it odd to meet someone for the very first time, knowing so much about the person beforehand, and finally putting everything you have read about him/her from his/her blogs to a face?

Well, that’s blogging for ya. Love it or hate it, it’s certainly here to stay. You are either an avid blogger or an avid lurker, or both! Either way, we’re all caught in this vicious cycle of blogging. Well, maybe not so vicious after all….