Bloggers: Thought leaders, narcissists or survivors?

Lately it seems like just about everyone I know blogs.  Of course that’s not the case since I also know quite a few people who have never blogged in their lives (Hi Mom!).

I don’t think the high number of bloggers in my social circle is a result of working in social media or communications — I think that it is the result of many more kinds of people blogging.

When I started blogging, it was still considered kind of a weird thing to do. I hesitated to tell people about my blog and remember clearly going to my first blogger gathering and thinking, “these are my people; this is where I belong.”

While many have tried their hand at blogging, there are a few who have kept at it — who have gone the distance. Last year, the New York Times estimated that 95 percent of all blogs are abandoned. Many of the bloggers I’ve been reading for years are survivors in my book.

I believe it — blogging is hard work and some people have it in them to keep at it, and some people don’t. After all these years I still find that I have plenty to say (a symptom, I think, of being a voracious consumer of information). Blogging has served me well, contributing to a career that continues to grow and supporting an upward trajectory of confidence in my writing, teaching and speaking abilities.

Someone I consider a mentor once said she thought of blogging as narcissistic and therefore couldn’t really bring herself to do it. “Am I a narcissist?” I thought . . .  maybe a little, but what writer isn’t, a little (in the, “well why wouldn’t people want to read my words?” way.)

Klout, the self-described “standard for online and internet influence” says I’m a “thought leader.” This is good because this is what I’ve set out to become.

Are you a blogger? If so, how do you define yourself as a blogger?

If you’re not a blogger, what do you think when someone shares that they blog?