I have had this blog up for about 5 years now. I was still living in Japan when I started it. I had packed up my scrapbooking supplies to prepare to move back to the states, but I didn't want to fall behind. So I posted stories and some photos while they were fresh in my mind so that I could turn them into pages for my scrapbook when we were settled, and my sea freight had arrived.
In the past five years since I started blogging, it has changed so much. People seem to blog for one of three audiences. Some blog for the general public. They try to increase web traffic, they put ads on their blogs, they go to conferences to learn how to blog more effectively. They blog about current events, tips and tricks, or informative topics. They seek to educate and build a community. Some even try to make it a part time job.
Others use their blog to bridge the distance between them and long-distance friends and family. They post photos of the kids, or their latest craft project, or their fabulous vacation to an exotic locale. They aren't interested in attracting the attention of strangers, and may even use a password-protected site.
Still others blog just for themselves. They use their blog to record their feelings, opinions, or perhaps creative writing. They don't care if anyone reads it. If they permit the voyeur, it may be a public blog. They don't watch stats or see where their readers (if any) are coming from. Their blog is the modern version of a Holly Hobby Diary with a cheap silver plate lock on the front that anyone can open with a paper clip or bobby pin.
I do not know where I fall in on this spectrum of bloggers. My audience changes from post to post. Sometimes I share information gleaned from the web or my personal experience, like when I post movie trailers, or write about my struggles with a pre-teen girl. Other days I post photos of a personal event, like the 3-Day Breast Cancer Walk, to share that with my friends and family that support me. I even occasionally write a blog post that is just for me. Just because I feel like typing something, or I feel like I haven't blogged in a while, so I should type up something.
I probably could do a blog post of some sort about every day. What keeps me from doing so is my perpetual struggle with the purpose of this blog. Who is my audience? After my sporadic posting habits for the past year is there even anyone left who reads this thing?!? Why am I writing here and who am I writing for? Do I need to do this writing in a public forum? I enjoy writing; should I choose a topic or two and try to make this into a community? So I want to open myself up to public scrutiny of my writing and opinions?
In any case, that is what I am pondering today. With whom am I pondering?






