Bloggers As a Demographic

John Hawkins re-ran an article on why Bloggers do not succeed. Like his other work, it was an interesting article and thought-provoking.

I do not, however, completely agree with it.

Here’s the thing. I write on two blogs, as part of a team at Wizbang!, which opportunity I greatly appreciate, and I also write on my personal blog, Stolen Thunder.

I also have a ‘real world’ life, which involves my family, my full-time job, my pursuit of my MBA and CPA, my cancer treatment, and repairing the damage done by my well-meaning but rowdy canines, pretty much in that order. As much as I’d like to become some internationally famous luminary with a huge expense account and the adoration of Right-leaning blogophiles everywhere, it’s not a big blip on my radar, largely because of something I heard years ago.

I remembered a story about a young man who was frustrated as a musician, because he really wanted to be famous and rich, yet he knew that was somehow off the mark. His father asked him if he loved music, and the young man said he did.

“So do what you love”, suggested his dad, “and don’t try to be famous or rich. Be a musician.”

It’s sort of the same thing with blogging. I like feeling appreciated as much as anyone, but I blog because I think I can add to the conversation, and sometimes just to say my peace. I blog when and how I see fit, and yes that means I don’t often pull in a huge crowd, but – eh – I never wanted to be a star, not really. I like conversation better than trying to make folks think I’m the next Christopher Hitchens or quote me from every post. And the people I read, they tend to be normal folks who have good arguments, an interesting way of writing, or whose work is important to me. Of course, I read the big guns, Michael Yon and Bill Roggio, and I have never posted anything near as significant as their work. But I flatter myself that I can tell a good story every so often, that my insights about various things are worth the time it takes to read ‘em. Nobody makes you do that, after all – if my stuff is dreck, just pass me by the way I do the NYT or the LAT. But I think a lot of us bloggers are not worried about punching up big numbers, or trying to impress anyone. We’re bloggers because we’re bloggers.