I’m currently reading The Huffington Post’s Complete Guide to Blogging, which makes the point that many people blog to establish or share their expertise on a topic. Similarly, a Technorati State of the Blogosphere 2008 report indicated that “To share my expertise and experiences with others” is the second-biggest reason bloggers blog (after “In order to speak my mind on areas of interest.”)
My blogging life is more about the Huffington book’s exhortation to “blog your passion.”
I do not consider myself a storytelling expert. I’ve read and heard a ton about storytelling, and I probably know more than many people about the topic, but I would not describe myself as an expert. I am more like a student and passionate fan of storytelling.
I started A Storied Career as part of the learning process of my PhD program. The blog continues to be a vehicle for my own learning, and I hope, my readers’ learning. Interesting that “learning” isn’t listed as one of the main reasons people blog.
- A few other interesting points from the Technorati report:
More than half of bloggers are better known in their industries [than before they blogged]. It is certainly true that I am better known in the storytelling than I was a year ago when this blog lay dormant. One in five bloggers have been on radio or TV as a result of their blogs. I haven’t reached that stratosphere yet, nor do I consider myself enough of an expert to do so. - Most bloggers (two-thirds) openly expose their identities in their blogs. That info surprised me a bit because I often have a hard time identifying the bloggers behind the blogs I come across, and frequently wish they’d reveal more about themselves even when they do identify themselves.
- The third-largest topic that bloggers blog about is the topic I blog about: “Other.” It’s fascinating to speculate about the many topics that must fit into “Other,” given that the non-other topics in the survey included personal/lifestyle, technology, news, politics, computers, music, film, travel, business, family updates, TV, science, religion/spirituality, health, sports, gaming, and celebrity.
- Readers’ preferred blogging styles are sincere, conversational, expert, and humorous. I would like to think I am the first two consistently and the latter two occasionally.
- I fit in with the majority of bloggers who measure their success in terms of their own personal satisfaction. Like other bloggers, I’m also interested in other measures like number of comments, and number of visitors, but I don’t obsess over those. One measure, page rank, flummoxes me. In mid-2008 when I first started measuring the Google Page Rank of the revived A Storied Career, my page rank was 7; it has now inexplicably dropped to 4.
- Most bloggers don’t make money on their blogs, but close to half would like to. I fall in the category of “My blog is a source of supplemental income for me,” although “supplemental income” is a stretch given that I probably make less than $5 monthly.
- I join the large numbers of bloggers whose experiences with blogging have impacted their personal lives by introducing them to new friends they’ve never met in person (as well as friends they have met) and made them more interested in their interests/passions. I have met so many wonderful friends from the storytelling world in the past year, especially toward the end of 2008.
- I was intrigued that 21 percent of bloggers blog to enhance their resumes and 26 percent have used their blog as a resume or have directed potential employers to their blogs. Ditto for me, but I’m not sure it has helped in my academic job search.
- Four percent of bloggers quit their jobs and started blogging full-time. That was sort of true of me, but I had already been planning to quit my job for other reasons, and my blogging time remains limited by my need to pay my bills.