Why We Blog (Unified Blog Theory)

A SHORT TEST:

Why do we blog?
What common force or motive guides the thoughts and keystrokes of every blogger?
Hmmm?
(tick. tock.)
C'mon, answer the damn questions already!
(tick tock, fingers drum on desk)
Nothing?
You have nothing?

That's it. Put your pencils down. Pass your papers forward.

Everyone who couldn't answer the questions, raise your hands.

Mmmm...one, two, six hundred, nine thous..... good, good...you all receive shiny adhesive stars.
A+.
Nice work.

There is no correct answer. Everyone who raised hands may go outside and play.

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'Blog' is a newly-minted and somewhat goofy-sounding term used to describe something that people have been doing since the advent of written history- putting a message on something, somewhere ( a stone tablet, papyrus sheet, inside a seaborne bottle, on a church door, etc.) and hoping it catches someone's eye.

One of my all-time favorite 'blogs' pre-dates the use of electricity by several centuries and consists of a single word carved into an actual, honest-to-gosh wooden post. The word?

"Croatoan."

I love that blog. Cryptic and mysterious, rich in history and richer in speculation- compelling, albeit short, reading.

Yeah, yeah, I hear ya- "if you are gonna call that a 'blog', then isn't just about any form of written word a 'blog'?

No, but blogs do encompass nearly every form of written word: fact, fiction, correspondence, news, opinion, disinformation- you can find all this and more just by hitting the 'Next Blog' button.

Duh. So what's that got to do with Croatoan and blogs?

Plenty. It's in the meanings, intended or otherwise.

See, the Lost Colonist who carved that word had a specific reason for doing it, a particular meaning was assigned to that word by it's author , hoping , in time, that a reader would view it and understand the message. They weren't sure who, if anyone , would read it, but they certainly hoped to be understood if their 'post' was ever seen.

It didn't work out as planned. The meaning was lost.
I can empathize.

That 16th century blogger didn't have the opportunity to read the comments left on their 'blog', but I wager they'd scratch their head in bewilderment if they did.

"That's not what I meant", they might think, adding, " I thought I was very clear and succinct, how could the reader be so mistaken and confused?"

How could they not? I've been blogging for nearly three years and I can't even answer a simple question as to why I do it.

Croatoan.

What does that mean?

To me , it means: " I am lost but I have something to say. Please find me, because it's important that I tell you. You know who you are."

That is why I blog.