In part because of the conversation started over at So Anyway, and the response I posted, Debbie decided to answer this “Five reasons why I blog” meme. I’ve been thinking a lot about this question, since the reasons I blog now are very different than the reasons I blogged a few years ago.

So here’s my answer. Five reasons why I blog:

1. Blogging is very much journaling for me. I’ve never been good about keeping a regular diary or journal, although I do tend to do private journaling in spurts. (In particular, I’ve journaled when something significant was happening in my life, like a breakup or the start of a new relationship…things that I want to work through in my writing.) Regular blogging has given me a way to record my day-to-day life. And like Debbie, I do enjoy looking back at old posts every now and then to see what I was doing, thinking, and feeling at a particular time.

2. Blogging keeps me writing, even when I feel like I don’t have anything “real” to write. I’ve struggled with this idea a lot…wondering if blogging gets in the way of other writing, but I’ve decided to treat blogging as a writing exercise. No, I don’t always post substance, but I do always try to make sure I’m keeping my writing lively, concise, and above all, readable. If nothing else, blogging can help me keep my skills sharp.

3. I blog because I have readers. Those readers range from friends and family to people I’ve met through Rand to people I’ve encountered through my ‘net travels. And whoever they are, whether they are many or few, they motivate me to keep posting. Yes, I blog for myself, mostly, but knowing that people want to read what I’m writing is attractive. After all, I’m a writer, and all writers want readers. 😉

4. I blog to express myself and communicate with others. Sometimes I encounter things I find interesting or noteworthy; sometimes I become enthralled with a movie or a book or a tv show, and I want to share it or have a conversation about it with a wider range of people than my personal contacts. Blogging gives me an opportunity to do that–to say, “Hey, wasn’t that a fantastic episode of Heroes?” or “Who’s seen Children of Men, and wasn’t it fantastic?” I like it when anyone joins in the conversation, but it’s especially exciting when someone outside my normal circle of contacts jumps in.

5. I blog because I enjoy it. I enjoy the act of communicating. I enjoy the relationships I’ve formed because of it. I continue blogging because I know that I would miss it if I stopped.

No tags, but if you do choose to answer this, I’d love it if you left me a comment or trackback!

Eden’s post today on anonymity and privacy got me to thinking. Actually, that’s not true. What got me to thinking was a conversation I had with her on another topic. She had posted about something that I was uncomfortable posting about publicly, so I commented in private rather than leaving a comment on the blog.

I started a Blogger blog in early 2003. I posted very little of consequence throughout most of 2003, until going through the breakup that became my defining blogging moment. My little blog, read mainly by a handful of friends, became a place of catharsis. I blogged my pain. Soon after, I found comments, and blogrolls, and I began to get excited about being found by the random reader.

I used (and still use) my real first name. In the beginning, I was careful not to let my last name come into the blog space. Obviously, I wasn’t going for complete anonymity, but I didn’t want it to be too easy for people to find me. I wanted to maintain a bit of the privacy that Eden refers to.

Soon after the breakup, I began dating again. And of course, I started blogging about it.* I found a great many supporters, as well as the typical trolls. And then I got burned; one of the guys I was sortofkindofmaybe dating read the blog and didn’t take kindly to what I’d written. He sent me a scathing e-mail message, and I was shamed. I apologized and removed all mention of him from the blog. I became much more conscious of what (and who) I wrote about. From that point on, most players in my blogworld got pseudonyms. My ex, who had previously been referred to by his real name, became simply X.

During early 2004, I began subbing and teaching on a regular basis. Every now and then, I would write about things that had happened during school. I never named schools, or students, but still, I started to worry that what I wrote in my blog could possibly damage my employability.

When I met Rand in the summer of 2004, I didn’t refer to him at all. I didn’t want to jinx it, certainly, and I didn’t want him to read the blog until I was ready for him to read it. I would only talk about him in the vaguest terms, such as “my date”. When we started seeing each other regularly, I referred to him as “R”. After a while, that seemed silly and pointless, and I began using his full name.

These days, I’ve given up on any sense of anonymity/privacy I’ve ever had. My blog is read by numerous friends and family members (including both my mom and Rand’s mom. *wave*). I enjoy being able to reach friends and family members this way, and I’m pretty sure that those people enjoy reading me, but I have to admit that it’s sometimes limiting. The way I blog has changed a lot over the past three years. I mean, it’s not like erin-go-blog was ever “cutting edge blogging” or anything, but I’m now much more likely to think twice (heck, sometimes even three or four times) before posting. I’ve become just a smidge paranoid. These days, my posts trend toward commenting on various forms of entertainment, photos, and brief updates about what’s going on in my life. Erin-go-blog is “safe”, and sometimes I wonder if safe=boring. I’ve struggled to find a balance, and I’m still not sure if I’ve found it.

*most of those early posts were lost in the tragic blog incident of 2006.