Thank Your Favourite Bloggers Day

Go thank your favourite bloggers today!

It's always been important to me to thank someone for providing a good product or service, especially if it is gratis.

So I am proclaiming today — whatever day you read this — to be "Thank Your Favourite Bloggers Day". Why? Because there are so many people around the world writing their hearts out in weblogs that are read and enjoyed for free. Bloggers give of themselves and of their knowledge to benefit complete strangers. Some plug along with extraordinarily little feedback. The good ones keep doing it on a regular, long-term basis. That's amazing.

Why Do Bloggers Blog?

But before I expand on the topic of giving thanks, did you ever wonder why bloggers start blogging?

First of all, bloggers have a passion for something. Second of all, they have an interest in sharing that passion.

Oddly enough, while our real life friends and family tend to be only mildly supportive (or just barely tolerant) of our hobbies, interests, what have you, those with "like minds" whom we meet through the blogosphere usually show genuine enthusiasm for what we do. (Tell me that's not true in your life...) Blogging becomes a wonderful way to connect with people who provide fuel for our passions.

After those first two usual explanations, the rest of the motivation for blogging gets a bit more personal. One common reason is to assist others by sharing helpful information. I can't count how many times I have googled a query and subsequently found my answer in someone’s blog posting. For example, today's tech experts provide much better information on their blogs than do the big corporations via their glitzy websites' support pages.

This, of course, leads to another reason why people blog: to sell their expertise or products. And while many are happy just to have pocket change from ad revenue, some people are actually making a good living through their online presence.

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Blogs: The Personal Journals of the 21st Century

Prospects of monetary gain aside, I like to think that many bloggers do what they do for the same reason that many of us used to keep diaries. That is, to maintain a written record of who we are, where we've been, and what we've done. Today's society can seem so ephemeral and disposable that I often feel sad about what we could be losing: the personal histories, stories and transferable skills of ordinary folks. But then, along comes the blogging community and I can see that the talents of some of these ordinary people are being given a much wider audience than ever before. Maybe we won’t lose the ability to do x, y and z – or to make Grandma’s "special whatever" – after all!

Which brings us full circle. As far as I know, there's no such thing as Thank Your Favourite Bloggers Day. But there should be. Blogs provide entertainment, education, information and social connections. And while all of it is freely accessible, it is often at no small cost to the blogger. Keeping a blog current, interesting, and relevant takes a huge time commitment... time that may be at a premium in many cases because most bloggers are just like you. They have families and responsibilities. A lot of them have so-called “real jobs”. And yet, somehow, they manage to carve precious hours out of their lives on a regular basis to connect with you about things that matter to you both.

From a similar experience in my younger days (of running a website), I know it’s not easy. Nor is it always enjoyable. It’s an ongoing struggle to give, to keep up, to be accessible, and – quite frankly – to be better than the next person at doing so. The unanticipated competitive highs and lows along the way can be surprisingly hard on the psyche. There are days when you want to turn it all off and retreat back to "reality". With today’s various social media platforms displaying numbers for all to see and compare, that pressure is multiplied several times over. The ability to turn anything off is increasingly difficult, if not downright impossible. I'm sure all bloggers would welcome suggestions on how to take an actual break while still staying current and connected!

So go to your favourite blogs today and take the time to thank the bloggers who have expanded your horizons and improved your life. Salute them for making that important contribution and wish them continued success and well-being. It'll make you both feel great!

Oh, and by all means, please pass along the sentiment to everyone you know. (And click here for an update to this topic.)

P.S. This post is not meant to be self-serving. (Not only have I been at this for only a short time, my blogging journey has been planned from the start to have a finite length.) My "conversations" with Christine at ChrisWDesigns.com actually prompted me to write this. And she is the first one that I would like to thank for doing what she does, particularly since her creations have played a significant role in me being here today.