I blog because I love birds, I love birding, and I love to share my passion with other people. I will never be a great birder. I will never see all the twitches, and I am likely to get all of my identifications right. I really struggle with remembering bird calls (which is why my cell phone spews out Citril Finch at the moment) and I tend to drift off in to appreciation rather than noting all the important recognition features.
It is also incredibly difficult to learn quickly when most of one's birding is done alone (there are almost no birders in the area, a couple of ornithologists provide my only reprieve).
But what I lack in competence, I make up for in enthusiasm. And I love sharing what I have learnt and experienced, and interacting with other birders/naturalists around the world.
So why am I writing about this now?
One reason is that I love finding blogs where people expose a part of their soul, a part of who they are, something deeper.
The other is that Dave wrote a blog on this topic.
The post is thoughtful, thought-provoking and encapsulates many of the emotions I love discovering in short stories. "Why I Blog" by DDolan is well worth reading. And it would be wonderful to hear YOUR PERSONAL STORIES of what draws you to blogging.
There is one thing that Dave refers to from another blog post that stands out to me:
Call it, "spreading the blog love"
The more we support and grow each others' blogs, the more the blog world grows. There is no such thing as a "limited number of readers to go around"! There are at least 30,000,000 birdwatchers in the USA alone, and millions more around the world. I cannot come close to believing that there is a ceiling of about 6000 birders a day who are interested in reading blogs about birds and nature. That might be the level right now, but the more we encourage our blog friends, the more the world grows. For everyone.
I would love to hear your stories and comments
Happy birding
Dale Forbes
It is also incredibly difficult to learn quickly when most of one's birding is done alone (there are almost no birders in the area, a couple of ornithologists provide my only reprieve).
But what I lack in competence, I make up for in enthusiasm. And I love sharing what I have learnt and experienced, and interacting with other birders/naturalists around the world.
So why am I writing about this now?
One reason is that I love finding blogs where people expose a part of their soul, a part of who they are, something deeper.
The other is that Dave wrote a blog on this topic.
The post is thoughtful, thought-provoking and encapsulates many of the emotions I love discovering in short stories. "Why I Blog" by DDolan is well worth reading. And it would be wonderful to hear YOUR PERSONAL STORIES of what draws you to blogging.
There is one thing that Dave refers to from another blog post that stands out to me:
"... It was about competing for readers on your blog, and how there are limited readers to go around for all of the blogs out there."This statement contradicts everything that I have come to learn and understand about how web2.0 architecture and functioning works. Academics and leading users are always talking about how competition works completely differently on the "new" internet: translated, this means that you have no competitors apart from yourself. Not including a particular blog on your blogroll or not visiting that blog JUST BECAUSE you do not want to support that competitor is a ludicrous thought in web 2.0. You do not vote with your not traffic. You only vote with your traffic. So supporting the blogs you really like (in whatever ways you can) means that they grow. And the strange thing is that the more traffic you direct to your friends' cool sites, the more your own traffic grows.
Call it, "spreading the blog love"
The more we support and grow each others' blogs, the more the blog world grows. There is no such thing as a "limited number of readers to go around"! There are at least 30,000,000 birdwatchers in the USA alone, and millions more around the world. I cannot come close to believing that there is a ceiling of about 6000 birders a day who are interested in reading blogs about birds and nature. That might be the level right now, but the more we encourage our blog friends, the more the world grows. For everyone.
I would love to hear your stories and comments
Happy birding
Dale Forbes
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7 comments:
I thought you blog because we are such nice people? :)
Okay, why do I blog? I am a loner and much of a recluse and my only contact with people is via the internet, more specifically, my blog. I have WONDERFUL people who visit my site and they share their worlds with me and make me laugh so I feel like I am part of something. Without them, I would be lost and alone.
My passion for photographing insects or anything else which interest me, I share with them. The excitment of finding something like the Ants and Ladybird Larvae of yesterdays post is shared by all even though most of them dont even like bugs. I appreciate their warmth and kindness towards me.
Thank goodness for blogging!!
I blog because I love to write and share what I see and do. If others like it, great, if not, oh well. Now I've become addicted to blogging. I've met so many wonderful folks, like yourself, online. I learn something new every day from reading blogs. Didn't think about it as being a competition. Just a great way to get out there into the world.
that was a good one to read... and why do i blog? well, to share my experiences with people, and find like-minded ones in the bargain... where i live, there are few people with interests like mine, and they usually wonder why i visit all the places i do... online, i have found people like me who enjoy visiting places, and like you, i believe there are many more out there who havent yet read my blog..... the challenge is to get some more of them to!!!
Dale,
Great blog! I write a blog: http://www.snakeadventures.blogspot.com/ about my fascination with wildlife (mostly snakes). I am not sure if it exposes part of my soul, but I invite you to see for yourself and if you find it interesting, will you add it to your blog list?
Thanks,
Robby
What wonderful comments, friends!
As Joan said, the more I delve in to this world of nature blogging, the more wonderful people I meet, and the greater sense of community and mutual interest/shared passions I experience.
I really appreciate all of your wonderful comments.
Robby, I have been on the lookout for a good reptile blog to follow - I would love to learn more from someone who is really passionate about this intriguing creatures.
Dale I used to learn a lot on this forum. I have not been there for a while but you can check it out if you want to.
http://www.sareptiles.co.za/forum/
Hey Dale, thanks for the positive feedback. I think that there is something missed when you talk about competition.the fact is that you need to get people to read your stuff in the first place and if there are so many blogs out there that are trying to get your attention, how do you get your readers to find you? Also,a point that is probably lost from the initiating blog is that I guess that blogging can be a moneymaking endeavor in some way (and to be honest, I don't see how you can make that much money with advertising), and the monetary gain brings competition. At least that is my understanding.
I enjoy your blog and hope to get into digiscoping when I can afford it.
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