Blogging for Change

Why do Bloggers Blog?

This is the introduction for a 6 part series on how to blog in a way that brings lasting change.

Each blogger writes for their own unique set of reasons and motivations. Some do so as a hobby, others to express their creativity, many to share their views, some as a therapeutic way of getting things off their chest and a few as a means of income. The combinations of reasons for blogging will be as many as their are bloggers. In my opinion this is good – as humans we are each unique and blogging should and does reflect this.

One of the underlying motivations of many (if not most) bloggers have is that they want to bring about change.

Perhaps a slightly different way of putting it is to say that we seek to have ‘influence’ through blogging. As I reflect upon this I suspect that it is a common thread of motivation that runs through most blogging genres. Lets consider a few:

– Political bloggers often seek to influence their readers minds on particular issues by arguing their points from their own political perspective.
– Business bloggers seek to bring about change in buying habits of their potential customers.
– Religious blogging seek to bring about change in the lives of individuals (and the world) through their posts on their take of spirituality.
– Techie bloggers seek to influence what us gadget obsessed readers spend our dollars on. In reviewing products they help shape our buying habits and bring about change of attitudes towards brands.
– Personal bloggers seek to influence the lives of their readers also – whether it by recommending books, movies or sharing their experiences of life in ways that challenge us to see the world in new ways. Even the jokes, polls and quizzes that permeate most personal blogs seek to bring about small changes as they entertain or make readers have a giggle.

Of course I’m making some gross generalizations here but the list of ways bloggers seek change or influence could go on. The change bloggers ranges from wanting to influence individual readers through to wanting to bring about change on a regional or global level. Some of us, if we’re honest, probably even blog because we seek change in ourselves and find the blogging process helps us think through our identity and lives.

For some bloggers the change or influence that they seek to bring about is explicit, spelt out and somewhat self serving, for others its subtle, unconscious and has no strings attatched.

So how can we be more effective influencers or change agents through our blogging? Over the next few days I’ll be writing a series of five posts on the topic of blogging that brings about lasting change. It is a simple communication tool that I was taught years ago in a public speaking class, that I have adapted to the medium of blogging, that goes through a process of 5 challenges that a communicator faces when attempting to bring about some sort of lasting change in their reader or listener. It is a tool that I’ve used extensively in preparation for speaking and teaching but also more recently in my blogging.

In adapting it to blogging it is not the perfect tool that will suddenly make our blogs A-list blogs that change the world – but I hope its of some help. Feel free to add your thoughts, suggestions and comments as we go along.

The five tasks in this process are:

1. Rejection to Attention
2. Indifference to Interest
3. Skepticism to Conviction
4. Procrastination to Desire
5. Fear to Commitment