Clemens Vaster had a post with Blogger Types that I found interesting. 

I’m obviously in the “I want to Blog” section.  I really only started this recently and have been trying to stay active.  I’ve been a member of LiveJournal for a long time, and posting items in various personal “blogs” for a while as well.  But this blog has been the first that I have attempted to keep informative or at least invite discussion, rather than blather about my personal life.

Blogging is a media that I’ve recently grown interested in, and I like the idea of having a conversation with tons of people across the world.  It invites long posts (a bad habit of mine) unlike bulletin boards or forums.  The Blogosphere is really, in essence, the new newspaper or magazine, but much more accessible to the general public as writers. 

This means I get a chance to do the writing I’ve always wanted to do.  It also means that it is less likely to ever mean anything to anyone but me.

In my attempts to get a better grip on what I should be doing, I of course read other blogs.  Penelope Trunk’s information on How to Start a Blog contains a lot of interesting links and information, such as Finding a Niche and Choosing a Niche.  She even indicates that blogging will help my career.  Blonde2.0 suggests ways to make a blog more viewed, and Amy Gahran gives tips for successful blogs through conversation.

In reading these articles, it seems like the major questions to ask are - What do I know? Where do I want to go?  How can I make this blog appealing to people? 

But I think a more messy question is uncovered - Do I want to have a “professional blog” - and what exactly does that mean?

I certainly don’t want to have an online journal anymore.  I never felt like I could be totally honest in it anyway.  Because, unlike David’s Journal’s wishful thinking, what’s posted doesn’t necessary stay put.  That’s the issue with connecting to all your friends and acquaintances to a personal journal - you can’t really be HONEST about your feelings.  You can’t post about that annoying neighbor, or something your friend did that pissed you off.  Because, frankly, your friends are reading and you’ve just taken a personal issue and made it public, regardless of how “private” your journal is.  Even if the person you are posting about isn’t connected to you, they could always find it. 

I’ve seen huge dramas originate out of journal posts where someone talked about someone else in a negative way, which spurred on a retaliation post, and started a long friction between several people.  I’ve also seen relationships get severed through comment strings (ouch!) and snarky comments be used to berate someone for past wrongs - all passive aggressively because the majority of people cannot handle direct face-to-face conflict to deal with their issues.  Thus the personal journal becomes a forum for venting and attack. 

And all of this from just being connected to your friends, just like everyone is.  God help you if you are linked to for some reason as an example nationwide. 

So, I don’t want to be in there for the emotional vomiting or daily uninteresting or forced updates that many personal journals can be - or at least, I found that mine were becoming.  Some people can do it - misspotsit always keeps me interested in her personal journal, but I don’t have the pizazz to accomplish that.  And I think a lot of interest comes from her insight and detailed posts - and comments in various other areas of the web.

But back to the point - do I want a “professional blog” and what does that mean?  Can’t I just blog about things in general, and then people will find it and a great conversation will begin?

It sounds like that is a No. Having a professional blog means doing what many of the other blog articles mentioned: choosing a topic.  That involves having to get to know that topic, knowing other blogs out there about that topic, and more.  And writing about that topic and other topics that affect it all the time - including weekends.  You have to keep up with it.

Assuming anyone will be reading it anyway.  From the reading, it sounds like you have to be out there, commenting on other blogs, reading other blogs, really staying fresh with what is being discussed, and drop your URL everywhere to get traffic, and marketing plays a part as well. 

So, it comes down to What Do I Want? 

I think I want a forum where I can post ideas and articles where people will come in and read and comment, and a discussion will happen.  I’m not sure I have anything that I want to market or that I’m looking for international fame.  Sure, a part of me thinks it would be cool to be the well-known connosieur of widgets that everyone reads to know the “real deal”. 

And ultimately, the coolness factor has a lot to do with it in the end.  “Do you know Lane?    You should totally read her blog.”  Yeah…

But mostly, through the discussion, I want to return the favor to numerous bloggers that have answered my questions over and over again.  Or the blogs that have made me laugh so hard I had to do the potty dance (you know you’ve done it).   Or just really insightful thoughts, or just sharing information I didn’t expect to get.  Like Kathy Sierra’s blog that really inspired me on a few levels until its dramatic (and scary) end.

Do these goals equal a “professional blog”…

1. A place where I can write my thoughts, or share articles or information, about topics of interest to me…
2. where people from all over can discuss the topic and some people may learn or their lives may be made better through it?

…or do they belong somewhere else?