apcampbell

I like the phrase, I Blog Therefore I Am, not because I agree with it’s meaning - for it is quite ridiculous to assert that the act of blogging determines being - but rather because it raises ontological questions concerning individual actions and their relation to the creation of self. Alternatives might be I Think Therefore I Blog or I Create Therefore I Blog, but however one phrases the statement, it still encourages a look at what happens during the process of blogging. Personally, I blog to communcate and share.

Interestingly though, while blogging we are creating an online identity which partially mirrors our own self image, yet at the same time emphasizes those aspects of self that we want others to experience, while masking those that we wish our readers to overlook. Reflection on this gives us insight into how identity is created, both online and off. What also fascinates me about this process is that the thoughts and images we project contain so many blind and hidden elements of self of which we are unconscious when we project. It is through the discussions we have with others online and through further reflection on the archive of those interactions, that those blind and hidden aspects begin to slowly emerge. With close attention, we can learn more about ourselves through the blogging process, and begin to make conscious that which we were previously unaware. Call it blogging for greater self awareness.