In my friend group in college, we have a large amount of overused sayings that we have created and quickly worn out. Lately the fad between us is to say "Do you even ___" leaving the blank to be basically anything. The saying is a sarcastic way to slam the other for not doing whatever fills the blank, or for doing it a different way from the other. I began to think about this quirky way we poke fun at one another in a more literal light as I am finally deciding a career path in my latter years of college. Telling your friends you want to blog for a living creates quite the laugh that calls for a strong "Do you even blog?" Blogging to me is the new age of journalism, my social life, my research, and probably a large percentage of my day. For millennials like me, the entire world is online, though that may take some convincing of our parents and other generation-X's. Blogging can be generating thoughts and opinions into words to look back at later, or more powerfully can be a way to tell a news story to billions through the immense power of the Internet. So is it cliché to blog about blogging or does it mastermind those like my friends who find hysteria in my aspirations? To my friends and those alike, five reasons for blogging are:
1)BREAKING NEWS! BLOGGING IS NEWS! :
Wake up and welcome to the future, because journalism is far from dead and lies in the platform of journalistic blogging. News sites with blogs, including The Huffington Post, have risen over the decade to trump the media news landscape. The sharing and consumption of knowledge in blogging is a way of inbound tactics that pulls readers into its information rather than pushing.
2)You kept a journal? You're so old-fashioned:
So you're not a journalist, I get it. But wait, you have a lot on your mind? Blogging is a platform that can be used by anybody and everybody to simply state an opinion on a topic, kind of like that old thing they used to call a journal except better because now you get to receive immediate feedback on your posts to create further thinking and more opinions.
3)Connections, Connections, Connections:
Blogging has become a platform of engaging with like-minded people. The sharing of information through blogs allows for connections and potential relationships that may not have occurred otherwise.
4)Are you aware?:
Blogging creates awareness for various topics, associations, causes, and corporations. Many businesses are adopting blogging to their online hubs as a means of spreading their own news to their customers and partners. Likewise, personal/social blogs, and political blogs create content to address an issue to create reactions that may lead to movements.
5)Want to be satisfied?:
Advertisers and marketers for brands and companies use blogging to showcase their products that allow for buyers to leave reviews, feedback, and suggestions. Believe it or not this constitutes as a form of blogging that I think most of us can agree is useful
Presuming one day one of our stupid phrases will catch on; if ever you are asked "Do you even blog?" I am hopeful that the answer will be a mockingly sarcastic "But, do YOU even blog?" rather than a simple no.