Tip:
Blogging is becoming a tool for your own personal and professional learning. You can connect to others with similar interests, share ideas and resources, and point to others who can connect to others who then can connect to even others with new ideas you may not have heard about.
(image from http://wnymedia.net/blogs/page/17)
Yet some people start blogging and stop. Some post once and never again. Some post on their own blogs yet never link to others or comment on other blogs. Why does this happen? Possibly it could be time or fear. I wanted to share five reasons of fear-based concerns for blogging.
- Fear that they'll have to implement whatever they write about. Blogs are supposed to be for reflection, writing what is important to you, articulating possibilities. Yet, some people are concerned that their readers will expect them to do what they wrote about. Blogs are really for you to share your thoughts.
- Fear that they will fail. They give up after their first post or after one year of posting but receiving no comments. They fear that others will figure out that they don't know everything. Sometimes they fear that they have no community or too much community to handle.
- Fear that they will do something stupid and be ridiculed by peers. The community is usually built up of peers and that's where some bloggers probably feel the same as you. There is no stupid question. Right? Well, with the overload of information, we don't know what we don't know. It is okay to take some risks and see what your peers think of your comments.
- Fear of change. Sometimes change is perceived as threatening. It means that you will have to do something different from what you've been doing for a long time. It means taking a risk and some organizations do not encourage innovation or creativity. Yet if you are in an environment that encourages risk, then go for it.
- Fear of taking time away from what you need to do. Anything new takes time. Just think of any newly-attempted activity, such as skiing or bike riding. The first time was scary and you may have crashed. But then you got right back up again and again and again. Each time you took another risk. Or did you stop after the first fall. It can be the same with blogging. Can blogging be a more efficient way of communicating and collaborating? It can take time but be more effective than what you are doing now.
Others are talking about this. Check out: Confessions of a Reluctant Blogger
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