Anyone who is already a blogger has specific motivations that are unique to their context and personal goals. If you’ve wondered about this trend and are considering investing time in building and maintaining a blog, here’s a few potential advantages you might not have considered.
1) Becoming a competent blogger increases your literacy skills.
It’s no surprise that adult literacy includes more than simply the ability to read and write. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) defines five literacy levels with Level 3 shown as “Adequate to cope with the demands of everyday life and work in an advanced society.” In today’s information-intensive society it is becoming more the norm that everyone self-publishes in at least a small way. Blogging is an easy and affordable medium for anyone with something to say.
2) Becoming a regular blogger allows you to find (or re-find) your voice.
If you are new to the role of ‘writer’ or if you have always met guidelines established by others when you write, you may not have confidence in your writer’s voice. Since there are very few rules for how you write blogs you won’t be limited by word count, tone, or subject. The style of blogs is often more conversational and frequent postings are encouraged so you will gradually quiet the “red-light” tendency to critique your wording and constantly tweak before you publish. Of course you still need to write clearly so that it is easy to read, but you have much more freedom. The scope or theme of your blog is limited only by your imagination and passions.
3) Building a blog that invites input from readers will add information diversity to enrich your thinking.
As you build readership, the comments feature of blogs allows you to develop a dialogue with your audience and they can create a conversation with other readers. This needs to be managed to ensure civility but the result is much richer than the world of print where the author simply puts their email address at the end of an article. When a broad range of people react immediately and specifically to either support your comments or disagree, you will find yourself in a rich opportunity to learn by listening. Keep an open mind (while still verifying the facts presented by others) and your brain will be well-exercised.
So if you are thinking about starting a blog, it’s a great way to learn by doing.
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