Who is it for?

The title of the blog today is inspired by a comment/question that I've recently heard a few times in conversations about blogging. I know other people have talked about this in various blogs but until recently I hadn't really had much cause to consider the question, 'who are the blogs actually for?', because for me the anwer has been very clear from the start; my blog is for my own reflection and learning and if someone takes something from it in whatever guise then great, it has had a positive effect on someone eles, a win/win situation if ever there was one.

During conversations I've had with colleagues, the idea that blogging is for some a sort of 'self gratification' or 'massaging of the ego', has been mooted. My initial thoughts as a (relatively new) blogger were to defend my own position and that of others. Thankfully I've managed to hold my tongue and let the comments pass. But the words have stayed with me and made me think about what purpose blogging serves.

I suppose for me blogging is a very functional thing, it serves a purpose and so far has fulfilled that purpose very well, to allow me to document and reflect upon the stages gone through and issues arising during the course of my SQH. Even if it was purely for self gratification I don't think there would be any problem in it from the point of view that nobody is forced to read it, I'm not doing it 'on company time', and I'm pretty sure I'm not offending anyone!

Where blogging's enormous value and usefulness arises is in the interaction that others have with what has been written. I can truly say that I had not used the internet for meaningful learning until I started blogging. I have learned in a superficial way by gaining new facts and such like, but not in a reflective, deep sense. That may say more about me than the usefulness of the internet(!) but in the past few months I have used my own blog, and those of others to reflect upon my own educational values and views of learning. I have taken information from other blogs and used it to inform my own viewpoints both in agreeing and disagreeing with what has been said, and I have used and shared resources with others.

I'm definitely an advocate of blogging, not as an end in itself, but as another tool that we can use to further our own learning and the learning of others. But as with anything new there will be suspicion and distrust in some quarters until real benefit can actually be 'seen'. If anyone reads this who is not a blogger, I'd say start your own educational blog and see where it takes you, only then can you truly guage its usefullness and you can also have an opinion based on a practical understanding of the processes involved.