I know that half of the people using Internet are already writing a weblog themselves, and that 95% of my readers have a weblog of their own. Nevertheless, I thought I'd give a simple Question & Answer kind of introduction to whether or not to start writing a weblog. So, if you're having hard time deciding this, let me give a piece of advice.

Q: So, should I start writing a weblog?

A: Maybe, maybe not.

Whaddaya mean? I thought you were supposed to give answers.

I am, but I am trying be honest too. Maybe you're the kind of person that shouldn't start writing a weblog, I dunno.

But I really want to start weblogging. I just don't know if I should.

The thing is, you shouldn't start writing a weblog for the sake of starting a weblog. You should start a weblog for a passion for some particular thing, or an extensive knowledge about something, and that kind of things. We're way past the point when people started weblogs because of the phenomenom itself. (And being way past that point is a good thing, by the way.) Now that all the glory and mysticism have vanished, the only good reason to start a weblog is to have something to say.

I'm not sure if I have something to say, but I am interested in a lot of things.

Well, that's OK too. As long as you are not starting a weblog because you want to start a weblog.

Now, then, how will I get 100000 readers for my weblog?

You won't, unless you're Stephen King.

OK. So how many readers will I get for my weblog?

It depends. Most weblogs have less than ten readers, I'd guess, so statistically speaking a good estimate would be just that, ten readers. Reader-friendly writing, original ideas or solid knowledge will get you to perhaps several hundreds. If you're some sort of celebrity (even in your own speciality), then you might get even more. Being very talented helps.

Uhh. That's depressing

No, it's not. First, the most important audience for your weblog is yourself. You write for yourself to figure out stuff. Second, you've got to realize that one passionate reader is better than ten thousand casual readers. (Though having ten thousand readers probably means that you have a lot of passionate readers too, but that's besides the point.)

Let me give you an example. My wife and I write to our daughter's (private) weblog. We write about Telma's casual everyday happenings and occasionally put some pictures up there too. The readership consists of our relatives and a couple of friends, alltogether around ten readers. But the point is that they are really happy to read that weblog. The weblog is not a substitute (for them) for seeing her in real file, of course, but they can't see her in real file that often (because of the distances and people's schedules and so on). That weblog will not become more popular ever (measured by the amount of readers), but it still serves its purpose.

How will I earn my living for writing a weblog?

You won't, unless you're Stephen King.

So, how much money will I get for writing a weblog?

Again, statistically speaking: nothing, zilch, zero. (Actually, the figure could be negative.)

Well I defy statistics and I am going to be a very popular writer; how much money will I get?

Enough to pay your bandwidth bills.

If you're good and lucky, you might also get to write for magazines or bigger websites and get paid for that. Or you might end up writing a book. But that's got nothing to do with weblogging.

So, statistically speaking, I will get roughly ten readers and no money for my weblog, why should I bother, then?

Because this is the way information is and will be spread in the world. Weblogs and the Internet in whole have removed the barrier to entry when it comes to publishing. Clay Shirky calls this the Mass Amateurization of Publishing. There won't be much money in publishing if anyone can offer the similar information to the customer with the price of zero. (We're not quite there yet, and perhaps won't ever be, but you can publish your thoughts for free (as in beer) now —free for you and free for the reader.)

So you can be part of this great information super-highway we call the Internet, contributing to it and perhaps filtering information from it. If that isn't great, then what is?

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