I know I encourage a few people with my blogs because they write and tell me. Thanks!
There are others I assume who just read along and never speak. That’s OK too as I obviously don’t do this just for replies. Blogs ARE designed so motivated folks can reply if they desire. It is certainly not a requirement. 😉 A look at the Akismet “Bit Bucket” filter in the bottom right of the page you can see I do spark a lot of worthless spam replies. I actually run two filters and they work great.
I do blogging for a two sided motivation. It is a self motivation to try something new and explain how I did it, so that others who read what I am doing might be motivated to do it themselves. It’s the same reason people who like to do similar things often form clubs or groups to share experiences. Those groups also provide motivation, all good things.
In my view a blog is a lot different than a forum. I ran a forum called TEDEX, for many years. A forum is designed for intense reader interaction. More like an open give and take conversation, usually started by someone seeking advice or a very short “show and tell” about something of interest. Contributions are addressed to the group as a whole, like at a club meeting. There are many “originators” involved in starting various threads. Some forums degenerate into a few self appointed experts dominating, and the forum becomes more blog-like. Unfortunately TEDEX was spammed to near death by “joiners”.
A blog is more personable communication with from one to a few limited authors. I think of mine like an open personal chronicle with the ability for readers to join in with comments and additional information. It is more leader-driven than an open forum. For me it’s like a leader/follower atmosphere where the leader is not necessarily the know-it-all expert, yet sparks the motivation and interest of the followers. “Here is what I am doing. Would you like to follow along?”
I write several blogs so I can keep each one on a defined topic. “Ramblin’ Dan” is an open topic, daily life diary style with random topics, but my other blogs are more focused on reporting my hobby interest.
The best part perhaps, is no one is forced to read or agree with anything I publish. I just do it for whatever its worth for me to share and motivate.