“It is a promise that I make for myself that in next one year I will write 300 posts so that I take the count to 500 by the time this blog celebrates its second birthday.” Well that’s what I wrote last year while celebrating this blog’s first anniversary. Now that the day has come, I know I have not done that. But it’s ok. I take this opportunity today to just put in some of my thoughts about blogging which have changed ever the years. Do I write for someone to read? That’s the question every writer will ask himself at some point of time. Well it is not the problem only with writers. I think every performer displays his skills in public for that one “rasika” who can appreciate his art. Similar to marketing people who try to create a “customer”, creative persons imagine a perfect audience who will listen to them any time they perform. Blogging, by and large, depends on this notion of “participating audience”. Through comments, they are provided with a channel to send their responses. Will the singer sing better if he receives more applause on stage? Seasoned singers may say that best thing a singer can do is to sing for himself. Well, not everyone can reach this level of detachment. Mere mortals like us do get happy when someone appreciates us (and vice-versa). In this context, blogging is an interesting medium. A writer who has the habit of publishing his works in printed form often knows the frustration he has to go through waiting to know the response of audience. But blogging provides an easier way to this. Theoretically, anyone has the freedom to publish anything he wants and get responses from entire world. That is what we say about blogging. In fact, when I started blogging before 2 years I too believed this. It was believed that bloggers will soon replace the more traditional ways of news reporting. There was no stopping of views due to editorial stands. There was an option of “debating” also. But over the years I have recognized that this “debate” does not help much. I am not rejecting the age old practice of accepting only by questioning. But I have developed hatred towards what is normally called as “intellectual debates” fuelled by media (mainly news channels). In fact I have totally stopped giving my opinions on anything under sun, which I was doing earlier. Now I am using this blog only as a publishing medium. Yes, reader feedback does matter to me but I have grown to overlook some of them. The obsession with number of hits and quantity of posts has stopped. I take these as natural developments. For someone like me who suffer from “compulsory writing disorder”, blogging is a good therapy. For now I do not feel any need to stop blogging. It is fun writing here and would like to continue as long as I like it. And yes, no promises for next year. Happy birthday blog!!! |
Dear Krishnaraj,
Congrats on the second anniversary of your blog.
As some one who was inspired by your blog to start my own, I will be looking forward to reading your blog in the years to come.
While I do not believe that blogging will replace the traditional news reporting, what is an already established fact is that the bloggers have made an impact on the traditional news media. This may not be that true yet with the Indian or Kannada context, but in the Western world, especially in America, blogging has had a major impact. So much so that many very well established giants like NYT, Washington Post, Time magazine have started hosting blogs themselves.
As far as the reasons/expectations for/from blogging, I am sure each blogger has his own sets of them. What I really like about blogosphere -- already a cliche -- is its irreverence, fun and even cacophony. There is a sense of joie de vivre that I find in blogs that is absent in the more traditional media. (Of course that does not mean that one cannot use blogs for a more meaningful writing. In Kannada itself, a very well established writer like M.S.Sriram is doing that very effectively.)
It is my fervent hope that you won't lose your zest for "giving opinions on anything under sun".
Regards.