I’ve never chosen to write in a manner that could possibly put me in the face of public scrutiny. Sure, I’ve written essays on the works of others and stories about my life for class, but even then, my works have always been limited to a certain audience—until now. I’ve decided to start a blog and portfolio (a ‘blogfolio,’ if you will) for a handful of reasons (in no particular order):
First, for you, the reader. I wish to use this blog in tandem with my electronic portfolio to give the reader a fuller picture of who I am. Whether you feel that you know me well, or you know me very little, I wish to teach you something new about myself by allowing you into my mind, through my work, as one who writes. Writing allows me to tell you about myself, but gives me more time to meditate on not just what I say, but how I say it.
Second, for my own professional development. While a résumé is certainly one of the most important ways of presenting myself to prospective employers, I find that it gives an incomplete picture of who I am, especially since studies show that employers spend an average of SIX seconds looking at your résumé. There’s a distinct disadvantage in presenting oneself in a purely textual manner—while it does a good job of telling what I’ve done in my life, it doesn’t do the best job of showing what I’ve done. A one-to-two page brief on my activities is simply not engaging enough to deserve more than six seconds of viewing time. With this blogfolio, however, I can expand on the activities in my résumé with multimedia posts, while still keeping my résumé intact and accessible for those who want to see it.
Third, for my own personal development. It find it therapeutic to be able to express myself exactly the way I want to be seen and heard. Since I must consider you, however, I must be clear instead of cryptic. I am privileged to have a potentially large audience from which I can get feedback on the work I’ve done. I look forward to using your constructive criticism to make any improvements possible.
I look forward to the blogging experience. Stay tuned, my first blog post is up next.
Cave quid dicis, quando, et cui.
I’ve heard about all of people who got fired for something they said online. Even on the internet, it’s a good idea to properly police yourself.
It’s also pretty daunting to present a piece of your writing.
Ken, I’m not sure it’s “all of the people who got fired” were fired for saying something online. Some people say awful things offline too, and they used to be fired before the internet. But you’re right that it’s become even more important to be professional when we “say” anything online.
I find it interesting how you state your reasoning for writing via blogfolio; that you state writing for yourself last, and even then, for your own development, specifically. It makes me wonder if writing for oneself, then, is so implicit in the act of writing that it barely needs saying.