Will you still blog even if no one is reading your blog?

Last Sunday, 9th of Feb, I attended a conference of bloggers in Mumbai organized by the bloggers group Blogadda.com.

There were multiple presentations. In one of the presentations, the presenter asked the audience, 'Will you still blog even if no one is reading your blog?'

That set me thinking. 

It was a very incisive question. It touched the root of the issue. What is your objective of blogging? Are you doing it for your self satisfaction? Are you doing it for the creative thrill that is generated when you pen your ideas and publish it in your blog? Are you blogging for 'hits'? Are you blogging for 'Comments'? Are you blogging for Money?  Are you blogging with a clear objective?

Why do you blog? I think that is the root of the question.

For me, the answer is very clear. I blog because I enjoy blogging. I enjoy the construction of ideas in my head and their smooth transition to the blog. I get a creative thrill when I use very good words like 'Behoove', 'Overarching', 'Delectable' etc. I blog so that I can attain that 'high'. 

Over the years since I started blogging, I have written some very good posts and many average posts. I also observe that over the years, the focus of my blog has shifted subtly. My blog started off as 'Random Thoughts' where I was writing what came to mind, then it moved on to Creativity as a theme and the blog name changed to 'Thoughts out of the box' and now it has settled into Personal Growth as a theme and the blog name has changed to 'Grow Together'. This I think is permanent. 

Has blogging helped me? Yes of course it has. It has structured my thoughts. It has simplified the transition from ideas to written word. It has brought me access to many talented bloggers. It has taken me to Blogadda conference.....

Has blogging had a deleterious impact? I think that blogging has a negative aspect in that it makes you a serious writer. You end up focusing on 'What' of writing and not the 'How' of writing. Some of my best writing is when I let myself go. The language is more jovial and my writing is more humorous. But when I am blogging, I tend to write on serious topics. Sometimes I tend to become pompous and think that what I write is the ultimate on this topic and that I am reaching and impacting more people than I really think I do. I tend to write posts like this one when I should also write posts like this and this and this more. All these three posts were strokes of inspiration and I think came out well.

At least writing these posts gave me a lot of elation. It is not that other posts do not give me satisfaction. Every time I hit 'Publish' button, I am very happy. But some posts make you happy while some elate. 

Who knows? May be it is not the blog that is changing me. It is me that is becoming serious and this is reflected in my blog.

(What about you? Will you blog even when you know that no one is reading your blog? Or are you one of those 'Statistics Watching' kinda blogger? Share your views here)