500 Posts!!!

I cannot believe that this blog has reached its 500th post today.  Happy Birthday to me!!  That is a heck of a lot of writing and sharing.  I started this blog on 5/8/08.  And, yes this is shameless self-promotion: 275 posts for Something Just To Start (Virtual Art Gallery) and 125 posts for Go! Smell The Coffee for which I am one of many contributors. I began SJTS on 4/3/08 and began with GSTC on 10/13/08. That is a total of approximately 900 post in about a year and a  half.  (I could do the math...this one was easy. LOL

Granted some of the post were duplicated on other blogs, but who cares!!  I beat the average of most blogs lasting six months. I decided to investigate what are the typical characteristics of a blogger.

According to Robin Good Blog,  Bloggers are sexy men. At least according to Technorati's report this is true. Your typical blogger is male, intelligent, ranks among the high-middle class, and in his primes. Sexy is of course subjective, but having intelligence, wealth, and youth can't hurt.

Hmm...I don't really fit that profile.  One, I am not a sexy man, but I have been called a female who is really a "gay man." (compliment to me!!).  Okay, I am intelligent. I'm not sure, but we might be upper-middle class and what are the primes?  I definitely don't have youth going for me.  Do you fit this profile?

According to another blog for which I cannot figure out the name because it is in some Asian characters stated the following:  The Big Five are major personality traits that have been discovered through extensive research: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. Recently study examined the relationship between the Big Five and blogging.

The Big Five factors and their constituent traits can be summarized as follows:

Openness - appreciation for art, emotion, adventure, unusual ideas, imagination, curiosity, and variety of experience. (I guess that fits except for adventure and a variety of experiences)

Conscientiousness - a tendency to show self-discipline, act dutifully, and aim for achievement; planned rather than spontaneous behavior. (Okay, that is me)

Extraversion - energy, positive emotions, surgency, and the tendency to seek stimulation and the company of others. (Definitely not me, at all!!!)

Agreeableness - a tendency to be compassionate and cooperative rather than suspicious and antagonistic towards others. (Okay, that fits.)

Neuroticism - a tendency to experience unpleasant emotions easily, such as anger, anxiety, depression, or vulnerability; sometimes called emotional instability. (Do I tell the truth?  Yea, that fits.)

Why Blog?

creative expression, money-making possibilities motivate only 15 percent of bloggers, and most blog on a variety of topics, with 11 percent focusing on politics.They are less likely to be white than the general Internet-using population, and more than half live in suburban areas. "Bloggers in general don't intend to have a lot of impact," said Amanda Lenhart, who directed the survey. "The motivation comes from within; it tends to be very personal. They're not out to change the world."About 60 percent of bloggers maintain their Web sites to keep in touch with friends and family, and half of them blog to network or meet new people, the survey said.

"Of all the bloggers out there, there are only about 10,000 that have an audience beyond their friends and families," said B.L. Ochman, a business blogger who tracks online trends.  "It astounds me that people are willing to do this stuff without getting paid," Ochman said. "I come from a generation that gets paid for our work."  Although advertisers are slowly shifting dollars into the blogosphere, the majority of bloggers say they maintain their blogs for themselves, not for their audience.  About 33 percent of bloggers see blogging as a form of journalism, the survey showed. Typical bloggers are not ranting about politics or trying to be hard-core journalists, he said. "The survey shows that blogging is really a community-based activity and a way of connecting with people."  Most bloggers maintain their sites as a hobby. "It's not just the hard-core geeks and news junkies doing it," he said. "It's a good thing for our culture as a whole to have such a wide variety of people writing."

So, the question is why do I blog.  Just because...just kidding.  Well, my first blog Something Just To Start was named by my therapist as I kept thinking about just starting one and he said, "Do Something Just To Start."  So, I began with things I like art, jewelry, cooking and inspiration.  Then, I started Clinically Clueless as a therapeutic way of expressing myself with anonymity.  This ended up being a great tool for therapy as I was telling the truth of my life which was very difficult to me and helped me to open up and accept my life.  GO! Smell the Coffee, I was asked to be a contributor on many which is great fun...I basically get to write what I want and I loved reading and commenting on the site.

I still enjoy blogging, view it as a hobby, making social contacts, as a therapeutic tool and just fun.  However, I do pressure myself and feel badly when I miss a scheduled day, but I am letting go of that neurotisicm.  More blogging to come....

So, why do you blog?