I have decided to join the masses and begin attempts to keep a weblog (I refuse to use the term “blog”). I am forcing myself to do this for a number of reasons. I say “forcing” as I have never been able to maintain a diary and generally loathe writing. I’ll set out my reasons below, as they may be amusing to the reader or my future self and may serve as an excuse if I tire of doing this :)
When I started to use the Internet in 1992-3, pretty much all that was available was published by individuals. I recall that time with fond memories, not just because of my excitement with the medium and the technology, but also my enjoyment of the tone of the pages. That fusion of the factual and professional with personal enthusiasm is mostly absent from today’s corporate, whitewashed Internet, but personal weblogs recapture some of this spirit. I feel that this is something worth contributing to.
The most personal reason relates with a feeling that I need to begin to gather my personal history - much of the quotidian stuff simply rolls out of my life and is forgotten, unless recollection is provoked. There are so many amazing, scary, funny, weird and joyous things in the world that allowing their memories to simply decay seems a kind of violence.
Related to this is my desire attempt to capture my emotions at the time they are felt. Strong emotions, left unreinforced, fade faster than memories. By recording my impressions over a long period, I may (at some future time) be able to see how my views have changed and evolved.
I believe that weblogs are also coming to serve a societal function. As mass-media becomes increasingly concentrated and facile, the diversity and dissent recorded in individual’s weblogs become increasingly valuable. (On this, I may be deluding myself - the Internet is still largely a toy for the bourgeois, but I hope that it does not remain this way.)
The final reason is purely practical: I feel a need to write more in order to improve my written expression. By placing what I write where is is likely to receive scrutiny, I will hopefully feel compelled to write well. (I should disclose that I have no plans to subject the reader to poetry at this time.)