1. It provides opportunities for you to express thoughts in longer format than text or tweets. You can elaborate on ideas, find nuances in them, and keep coming back to them until you get them right.
2. It goes worldwide quickly, so it can provide valuable feedback from just about anyone, anywhere. Almost all feedback is valuable.
3. You need to communicate with people to truly test your ideas. If your ideas reach someone, are commented on, plus-one'd, liked, or go viral, then you have a chance to start a dialogue and really interact
with people about your ideas, as opposed to talking about circumstances or small talk.
4. It breaks down the public/private barrier. Your blog can record your inner thoughts or your outward self, but it isn't totally private and it isn't totally public. It's self-publishing that reaches people who really care about the topic you're writing about.
5. It's better than a journal because it forces you to think about your audience. Who is reading this post? What do they think?
6. It's better than a media outlet because it is relatively agenda-free. Big-time blogs have built-in biases, just like news channels (think Huffington Post vs. Drudge Report or CNN vs. Fox News). But until your blog reaches critical mass as a full-on media conglomerate, you're free to innovate and post whatever you would like.
7. It allows you to see if your ideas are really world-changing or not. If by chance you don't build your blog into a media conglomerate, there is still room to reach people in a small or large way. Blogging really is competing in the marketplace of ideas. If you don't end up changing the world, it at least has the potential to change some people's thoughts.
I'd love to know if you have other ideas on how blogging helps or hurts thinking. Please leave a comment, and consider blogging yourself!
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