Time to blog!
It’s about time to post a sign of life. My last item on this blog is from December 2, 2005, it seems like ages ago.
When do you blog most? When you have lots of time and nothing to talk about or when you are extremely busy and no time to blog? I don’t know. It goes back to the question why does someone blog in the first place. Several people have already tried to answer that question. First of all, blogging has become so mainstream that there is no longer one type of blogging, look at Wikipedia’s overview here for example. Then, blogging is a personal thing, reasons for wanting to blog vary from person to person. So, instead of trying to list all the reasons why other people blog, let me list mine:
I have always wanted to be a journalist. In fact, in 1985 and 1986 I was a freelance journalist for Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad, writing background articles for their Economy section. I remember how proud I was, seeing my name appearing in print. It demanded however so much time next to my job as a management consultant, that after some time I could not cope combining the two any longer. But the passion for writing remained. Some day I may want to write a book – if books still exist then…
Blogging is an experiment to me. I am fascinated by technology and am an early adopter in more than one respect. Technology changes our lives faster and more often than we sometimes realize. The best way to learn about a new technology, is to practice it and that’s what I am doing. Practicing to discover.
Blogging to me is also a way of communicating with people I know but who I do not meet on a regular basis. My blog is a way to keep others posted on what I am doing and thinking. In addition to running Qelp as a company, I try to contribute to national and European debates about how we can stimulate innovation and entrepreneurship. To me this blog is a helpful medium to express my opinion and be able to point people to it as reference in an email for example
But perhaps in a couple of months or years, I get bored with blogging and stop all of a sudden. Russell Beattie, a mobile specialist who works for Yahoo, had tens of thousands of readers a day, and just stopped overnight (by no means can I compare my articles to the professional, in-depth analyses he would post). He posted on average 3 articles a day for several years and then all of a sudden closed his notebook. I use Bloglines as an RSS reader and Russell had a blog that I would read, every day.
Having said that, let me try to improve and start blogging again about what’s happening. Speak to you soon: in blog or in person.
