My Decision to Blog

To blog or not to blog, that is the question. I am, by nature, very opinionated and outspoken, and thus would be a natural to keep a blog. But I also tend to look very skeptically at popular trends, pastimes and fashions.

Until lately, the best reason I had been able to come up with for blogging was to give vent to my ego. While this is obviously a significant and compelling reason to blog, something more than pandering to my own narcissism was necessary to get me to do it. There are negative aspects of blogging to be considered. With my natural tendency towards stridency and my diverse pet peeves, excited utterances put into print may well come back to haunt me.

But there are good reasons to blog. For one thing, blogging is rapidly emerging as a new means of networking with others in the age of a new information media. Last week I lectured my class on the importance of networking to one's career. The blogosphere is a network, and my blog is my entry into it.

Moreover, by putting my two cents into the blogosphere, I can do my small share to counteract those views that run counter to my own (and indeed, counter to the well-being of humanity).

And besides, there is nobody around to really, really advocate my views and interests, because I just do not comfortably fit into any of the typical or stereotypical categories expected of me by society. This will likely become apparent through the contents of my blogs.

Perhaps the most compelling reason to blog, however, is that there are points which need to be made but which either are not being adequately communicated or are not being said at all. This is a void I shall strive to fill.

And so, the Expatriate Owl has entered the blogosphere.