Bloggers and their blogs

I have been stumbling across several "How to be a Good Blogger" sites and most of what I have found is instructions on how to get attention and get into the social network. I have my own ideas and as always I invite criticism.

I have been blogging off and on for for about 3 years, officially. Unofficially I have been blogging my whole life, just not online. Typically the blogs I read and comment on are not the everyday run of the mill stuff. If I wanted the news, I would read the news. I want opinions and sharing of ideas. I like reading something written by some one who shows an ability to think for them selves and bases their opinions on their own research. These same bloggers are the same ones that encourage you to research for yourself as well.

Blogging is sharing, growing, educating, entertaining and feeding the ego. As some one who has spent a lifetime sharing his opinions about anything, I can honestly say there is a certain amount ego involved in it all. Their is that small part in the brain that is looking for some one to agree with us and praise us as geniuses. I am not saying that bloggers are ego maniacs. Quite the opposite. Your typical good blogger writes to learn and to share with others what they think they know and possibly learn something new. We all love hearing how awesome we are but some times we need some one to provide us with a valid counterpoint expressed in a manner that encourages us to either try to engage this person in an educational debate or go and do the research ourselves.

Bloggers are the new bards. Bards were originally the ones that spread the news and kept the records. They traveled to spread history, stories, legends, poetry and music. Readers travel to bloggers via the internet. When I get together with friends we talk and share ideas and knowledge. That's something everyone does. So what makes a good blogger.

A good blogger is a good human. They look for things to write about that will increase knowledge and understanding. They also look for ways to entertain and alleviate the days stress by giving some one a laugh or a chance to daydream or engage in wonderful debate over Star Wars vs Star Trek and other geeky arguments.

A good blogger is a geek. Face it geeks spend more time researching their interests then anyone. They get obsessed with topics and try to learn everything there is to know about it. Ok so they are OCD geeks. Accept geeks just plain know more. Most geeks also qualify as nerds. Once I hit 30 and had the Dude, I realized I would never be cool again. It was very liberating and really allowed me to embrace my inner geek. One of the best things I have done. I have learned more in the last 3 years about things I have always been interested in than I did in the first 30 years of my life.

A good blogger is intelligent. It takes and intelligent person to convey thoughts that are easily understood and that are convincing and believable. It takes an intelligent person to ask questions and look for the meaning of things and then explain their findings in a way that the masses can understand.

Deciding to become a blogger is a decision to take on a responsibility to those that read that you will be honest and thorough and encourage new ideas or new ways to look at old ideas. Bloggers should hold themselves accountable for what they decide to share. A bad blogger throws out opinions based on little to nothing and will become argumentative or just delete comments that disagree with what they have to say.

Do I classify myself as a good blogger?

Not yet, but getting there.

I enjoy blogging it gives me an opportunity to express myself. It forces me to use critical thinking and continue to study and learn and it's fun too.