Now that the blog becomes permanent, I would like to have a say about the purpose of this blog; or, rather, the motivation for me to blog. Perhaps my write-up here could motivate you to start blogging (for non-bloggers), or blog better and happier :)

Practice English and Writing

This is important for everybody, even for native speakers of English. By blogging in English, I am forced to write in English all the time. However, it doesn’t feel very dreadful because I am free to write about anything. Nobody collects and marks my work (except you blog readers!).

Contrastingly, being active in forums or social networking sites do not help much for your English. Either those sites permit you to communicate with your mother language, or they require very little typing. Replying a topic, writing on a person’s Wall or adding up a testimonial does very little impact to your English writing compared to writing a blog post this long, for example.

Squeeze Out Your Intelligence

It is fearful yet exciting that every visitors to your blog can be anybody – that means past, current, and future friends, relatives, coworkers, significant other, employer… anybody you can imagine. I always feared that my failures and mishaps can be traced back by browsing my blog, and it can be dangerous for future relationship or job opportunities. But hey, let’s get optimistic here and show off your intelligence in your blog, because your blog can have exactly the opposite effect! For example, you can show off your knowledge about a product by writing a lot about them, and when you are applying for a job, the prospective employer asks, “How much do you know about this product?” You then have the proof of your mastery, your blog is the evidence!

Practice Web Development

This might not apply to a lot of other bloggers, but when starting up the blog I am determined to get the most out of the experience. So I did it the hard way – hosting the blog myself, not relying on services like Blogger or wordpress.com. I feel now that the effort pays off – I can now put web development as one of my skills :)

Publish Your Thoughts and Creative Works

A blog is a perfect place to publish any work you did in the past – zero cost, no logistics, free and easy access for everyone. You can put your best essays in your blog so people can wonder about them. Also, if you are my type, you like to think a lot about current happenings, intricacies, conspiracies, you name it; elaborate your views in your blog.

Make Money! $_$

I always want to have some extra money (who wouldn’t?) and I heard from the start that blogging can actually pays. Obviously, a small blog cannot make up for a living, but earning while doing something you like is very nice! I can’t say that I succeed in this part – but dollars blind eyes :D

What is the purpose of blogging for you? Share your views and thoughts in the comments!