Last time I told you about why I want to write this blog. But what is a blog after all? Is it just a digital diary? Or is it a collection of contentless crap that had to be removed from my mind? Digital diarrhea so to speak? Let’s try to find out what hides\u00a0behind this kinda trendy concept of digital documentation of thoughts:<\/p>\n
When our parents were teenagers, the idea of a diary was quite popular. An empty book, being filled with huge amounts of personal insights. Stories from your life. Secrets about your feelings. If you want, you might even call it a record of your parents‘ lives during\u00a0that time. No matter if you saw it in movies, read your parents‘ records or were writing a diary of your own, you might agree that the writers\u00a0opened their hearts to a soulless piece of paper. Take Ginny Weasley as an example. She felt lonely, found Tom Riddles book and told the book\u00a0everything about her. In her case, the result of opening yourself that much fired back quite hard (I hope you all have read Harry Potter or at least watched the movies). But I bet that everyone of you knows the relief that you feel when you bear a secret that no-one must know and you finally get the chance to talk to your best friend about it. In my opinion, a diary has a similar function. It evokes the same relief when you write down all the weight you carry around. And like a good friend, you expect a diary\u00a0to keep your secret.<\/p>\n
A blog on the other hand has a quite contrasting purpose. Investigating the name itself (which is a short form for\u00a0web log by the way) already unveils its direct connection to the web. The world wide web, a network thats major purpose has always been to connect and to learn. So every blogger should be aware that keeping his digital posts a secret is a contrast to the entire idea of knowledge sharing that made the web as big\u00a0as it is today. If you want to digitally write about the feelings you have for Justin Bieber, the things you want him to do with you, go ahead. But be aware that the web won’t keep your words\u00a0hidden.<\/p>\n
So what good is a blog if you cannot trust in privacy? In this case,\u00a0turn your view\u00a0around and make its weakness your\u00a0strength. Use it, to spread your word, your ideas and thoughts. When I spent a semester in South-East Asia, I wrote\u00a0a blog exactly for that purpose. To tell others about my experiences. About what I discovered, what I learned. And every time I finished a post, I felt the intensively positive feeling that I did actually tell something I wanted to tell.<\/p>\n
Some, especially companies, consider\u00a0a blog\u00a0just as another marketing tool, as another mainstream opportunity to reach as many customers\u00a0as possible. They\u00a0write blogs to keep their\u00a0followers up to date\u00a0by using\u00a0pre-approved marketing language, slogans and buzzwords without a clear meaning. Do they maintain a professional impression? Yes. Do they use eloquent language and beautiful expressions? Absolutely. But do they create a benefit for their readers? Do these blogs contain useful content that helps interested readers to satisfy their desire for information, to solve their problems or to inspire\u00a0the community? Rarely. If you take away all those fancy sounding buzzwords, what is left that creates a value? Way too often, it is just digital diarrhea. Meaningless\u00a0content, created to sound fancy and innovative. Sadly, many\u00a0digital writers\u00a0have forgotten about a blog’s\u00a0similarity to its analogue ancestor, the diary. About the expression of thoughts, opinions and the relief that you feel if you can finally tell about something you were longing for because it is worth it.<\/p>\n
„Remember what it felt like to tell your friend about a secret.“<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
So what is the bottom line of this diary-blog comparison? I think it comes down to two things. First of all, do not produce digital diarrhea. The web is already full of it and people get tired reading the same things again and again. Secondly, remember what it felt like to tell your friend a secret. Remember the relief for not bearing\u00a0the burden alone. And then think about your current secrets. About things you want to shout out. And then do it, to feel the relief again. Because that is, what a blog is for.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Last time I told you about why I want to write this blog. But what is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.jannisillgner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/writing-1209121_1920.jpg?fit=1920%2C1441","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/peEM2w-t","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":45,"url":"http:\/\/blog.jannisillgner.com\/?p=45","url_meta":{"origin":29,"position":0},"title":"Hold your Ground – Believe in your Beliefs!","author":"jillgner","date":"7. Februar 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Do they want what I want? This question came to my mind quite often within the last few weeks, and I think I should spend some time on writing about the issues that I've experienced in that context. 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April 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"It has been a long time since my last post was\u00a0published. I know that exams and excursions are nothing but a bad excuse for not writing down thoughts that I have been carrying around for a while already. 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