What are personal blogs?

Personal blogs are blogs that are associated with one individual, and not a company, organization, or group of people.  Personal blogs reflect the ideas, passions, fears, emotions, and actions of one person, and therefore documents his or her life forever on the internet.

Personal blogs started with platforms like Xanga and Live Journal, and have now evolved to the blogging platforms of today: Blogger, Wordpress, Typepad.

Why should I start a personal blog?

The most popular reason for starting a personal blog is to keep an online diary about your life.  One day you may want to share your life with your grandchildren, or you feel very open about your thoughts and feelings so you want your friends and family to be able to read about them.

A new phenomenon that recently started in 2008 is Personal Branding.  There is a niche group of bloggers online that blog not as an online diary, but as a platform to promte their ideas, accomplishments, and for professional development.  These leaders in personal branding use personal blogs as a dynamic resume that reflects their ability to do work and be worthy of a position or client that they are seeking.

Personal Blogs vs Personal Branding

There has been a huge debate online about what is better: Personal Blogging or Personal Branding.  On the personal blogging side, people who put their honest opinions and real selves into the blogosphere feel that personal branders are being unauthentic.  On the personal branding side, bloggers feel that their personal life and their professional life should be completely separate.  So which one is better?

Ultimately, they serve to different purposes.

Neither is better than the other one.  Blogging for personal use is great because you document your life online and get to look back and see how much you have grown over the years.  You improve your writing, and get to meet some amazing people online who you can become friends with.

Personal branding is great because of the career and professional opportunities that become available to you.  Ther have been many people who say that they have gotten a job because of their blog.

Blogging and Careers

Can you really get a job from your blog?  Of course you can!  If the job you want to get is related to social media or journalism, then a popular, well-written blog is an excellent addition to your resume.

But what about jobs in consulting, finance, or law?  Will a blog help me in these areas as well?

Yes and no.  Though a blog doesn’t hurt, unless the company is very next-gen and acknoledges the use of blogs in the professional world, you’re not going to get many extra points for having a blog.  If it comes down to the wire and the job position will be given to your or 1 other person, and you have a blog related to the company’s industry, then yes, it might give you that edge you need.

Personal Blogs are for fun!

The thing to remember that blogging is about having fun and expressing your  emotions.  Go out there and tell the world how you feel!