"Why Do I Blog?" Meme

Hot on the heels of today's blog post about Invisi-bots (as pictured above) and just in time to keep me from folding lots of laundry, it's the Weekly Blog Challenge from Strawberry Singh –– Why do I blog? Here's what she has to say and now for my meager responses ...

How long have you been blogging? The Poultry Report dates back to April 24, 2008 but I briefly had another Second Life-related blog before that and I've had personal blogs since I could access the Internet. Little-known secret time ... when I showed an aptitude for writing and seemed to enjoy it, my brother gave me writing assignments on varied topics and I'd post them on one of his several blogs. He and I know which ones I wrote but others can only guess. Writing was one of the many forms of therapy used to help rebuild me after my pre-teen traumas.

Why did you start blogging? Being unable to speak, writing was a way to better communicate my thoughts than was (and still is) the grammar limitations of American-Sign Language (ASL). Thank goodness for the iPad I can whip out to scribble out my exact meaning even to people that know ASL. Blogging extended from this activity like many girls keep a diary, except mine is public (well, not my RL blog, which I admit I haven't touched in a long time).

How many times a week do you post an entry? As often as seven or more times a week and as seldom as whenever I feel like. Sometimes I get too busy in Real Life or really have nothing to say about Second Life. Since I started using My Second Life fairly heavily my posts here have suffered.

How many different blogs do you read on a regular basis? About Second Life? Probably about ten, most of which are show in the Blogs I Follow list on this blog. I read many Real Life news and tech blogs, but some personal blogs and such. Sometimes I think my life is nothing but reading.

Do you comment on other people’s blogs? Whenever appropriate, yes, I will comment on someone's blog. Usually when I don't have anything intelligent to contribute.

Do you keep track of how many visitors you have? Every now and then I'll look. I used to worry about that sort of thing, but I write for me. If I write for other people then it becomes work and the joy disappears. Usually I look at my numbers when Daniel Voyager brags about his. As of this moment ...

Page Views Today: 153
Page Views Yesterday: 119
Page Views Last Month: 4,421
Page Views Total: 98,035

Google/Google Search is how most people find my blog followed by a movie pirating site. Most of my visitors are from the United States and the next largest group is from Poland. I have slightly more visitors from China than I do from Australia. My visitors prefer Firefox as a browser and Windows as their operating system. After all these years I've had only 322 comments on the blog and I bet half those are mine. Google AdSense hasn't generated a single penny for me. At least nothing I've seen.

Did you ever regret a post that you wrote? No, not really. If I wrote it, I'll own up to it. I've apologized for bad grammar, typos, and even some hurt feelings, but I've never deleted or regretted a post.

Do you think your readers have a true sense of who you are based on your blog? Some readers have told me details about myself that have amazed me. Apparently I'm very transparent despite all the How To Be Obtuse classes I've taken.

Do you blog under your real name? Yes. Uccello Poultry. *snicker* It's not secret that my Real Life first name is Caitlin. I'm rather pleased that the only place my full Real Life name appears online is in a list of names engraved on a NASA space probe plaque. Good luck finding my RL blog.

Are there topics that you would never blog about? Details about my Second Life sex life and my complete lack of a Real Life one. Wait ... I guess I just blogged about .. *grrrrrrrr*

What is the theme/topic of your blog? Real Me. Digital Life. Virtual Spaces. For the most part I focus on Second Life and my place therein. Once in a while I rant about Real Life or technology.

Do you have more than one blog? If so, why? Yes. Because I don't live 100% in Second Life (dammit).

What have you found to be the benefits of blogging? Blogging is a creative outlet. I love to write and edit and re-write. Blogging has also helped me meet some fabulous people in-world, I've been given (without prompting) some nice things by people who think I blog about fashion, and there are times I'm given early access to places by people who have been fooled into thinking I'm a "real blogger" about Our World.

So, why do you continue to blog? So, Strawberry was desperate for a 14th question and this is the best she could come up with? Better question: What would you do if you couldn't blog? I'll let you think about that.