The real question is … why are you NOT blogging

Colleague Jeff Smith published an interesting post the other day about his “rules and regulations” for blogging, but the overriding theme (Ed: – this is my opinion, I’m not speaking for Jeff)  was that the “what” he blogs about was – anything he’s passionate about, and the “when” was – whenever felt inspired to do so.

That got me thinking about blogging in general.  I think it is safe to say

• there are things in your working life that feel passionate about

(Because not to do so means you’re in the wrong career)

• they are not all negative

(same reason)

• there’s a good chance that someone in your field of the IT industry has the same passions

(I got news for you…you’re not the only guy/girl running Oracle, or Microsoft, or SAP, or Java, or …)

• most people in the IT industry know about this thing called the “internet”

(Don’t blame me…blame Netscape , Facebook and cat videos)

So with those things in mind, to not  be blogging about the things in your career that you are passionate about … is … well…. sortta just plain rude.  The script you wrote, the problem you solved, the frustration you had with the way something worked – all of these are items of potential benefit for someone out there in the community.  Moreover, the act of putting it to “paper” might assist you if the topic at hand is one of a seemingly unsolvable problem.  And of course, the more people that are blogging, the greater the chance that you will receive a reciprocating benefit, namely, someone else’s blog post will assist you with some element of your working day.

You might be thinking – “Oh..I dont have necessary software to blog”  That doesn’t really cut it anymore since all of the blogging platforms have reasonable editors just sitting there right in the browser.  I know this because I’m typing this entry into such an editor right now.

Or you might be thinking – “Oh..I dont have the time to write one”  Yeah, that doesn’t really cut it either If you haven’t got the time to write it down, just do it video instead.  And before you tell me that “Oh..I dont have necessary equipment”  let me share with you what I use for a lot of my “away from home” filming:

In terms of a parts list, we have

• standard compact camera (because they all do Full HD nowadays)
• wind suppression device – yes, that’s the kitchen sponge sitting over the camera microphone slots
• anti-vibration kit – that would be the paint roller swivelling on the piece of wood
• zoom extension – that’s the broom handle to which the paint roller is attached
• horizontal stabilisation lock – or “rubber bands” by their other name

Rest assured, Steven Spielberg I’m definitely not, but I’m not trying to be.  And what’s more, I don’t think the viewing audience is interested tremendously in cinematic wonder – they’re interested in content that might help them have an easier and more productive time at work.  I’m just sharing what interests me, on the off chance that it will benefit you.

So whether it is blogging or video or any other medium, don’t be shy.  Jump on board and try your hand.  You might surprise yourself at how easy it is to reach out to the greater community in your IT world.

Give it a go !