Why I blog

This blog will mirror the blog that I keep in our Jive PulseConnect area at work. I'll try to limit it to my favorite posts. This post was originally created on October 17, 2011.

My wife recently asked me why I blog. It's not as if I spend hours every day doing it to the detriment of the family. It usually takes just a few minutes to jot something down. The challenge (for me) is to do it at least once per work day.

I guess there are two key reasons from my perspective.

First, I remember reading a sobering statistic about blogs in general. Over 60% are abandoned in the first month and up to 95% are abandoned after 120 days. Nearly all of the people who read blogs never post or comment. This little blog is my own way to help populate PulseConnect with tiny bits of interesting things that may help keep people curious or interested. I find that committing myself to putting a thought down on electronic paper helps my own focus and makes me think. It's almost like mental exercise for me.

Second, I am also a firm believer in the "network effect." This is a phenomenon that establishes that the value of individual items increase as it becomes more pervasive. Think of a telephone. It's not valuable unless you can use it to call someone else. As you are able to call more and more people, it grows in value relative to the growth of the overall users and connections.

Perhaps it is simply hubris on my part, but I believe I have a lot of ideas. In and of themselves, ideas are not valuable. In my mind, ideas are like little seeds. If they remain in their safe, comfortable capsule, they will never amount to anything. They have to be digested and dispersed widely. If I am lucky, my little idea might grow into something more than just another thought. Maybe someone else will shepherd my idea and take it on. If it is fed and watered by others in the community, perhaps it can spark some kind of cross-pollination. As more and more of these ideas grow up and out, they generate a virtuous cycle of even newer ideas.

PulseConnect has the potential to become a microcosm of innovative activity within our company. It can only achieve that destiny if it is used and valued by the larger community.

And so I blog....