I told Pat, a friend of mine, that I had just begun blogging and he asked me, why? Why are you blogging and why should I read your blog? Pat says he’s checked out numerous blogs and continues to find content he doesn’t find value in. As he said, too much “what I had for breakfast” content for him to consider reading blogs as time well spent.
He couldn’t have raised the question “Why Blog?” at a better time for me since I had just posted my first entry. I took his questions to heart. My answers to those questions will be my blog guidelines.
What’s in my blog?
Subject matter guides the content. I want to focus on four T’s: testing, technology, tools and techniques. But it’s not just facts. My blog is about sharing my insights, ideas and perspectives on these topics. There is a personal element to blogging which brings me to the next question.
Why am I blogging?
To share insights
I want to share some of my insights. Some, ideas I think might be worth public consumption and only insights, ideas and perspectives relevant to software testing. Other life topics and epiphanies belong somewhere else.
To foster the community of software testing
I want to contribute to the community of software testing. And while I’ve been quietly reading for awhile, I don’t want to be a silent member anymore. It’s time to share. A benefit of blogging that I hadn’t anticipated before writing was the sense of community I feel. Previously, I only felt the community of software testing at the conferences I attended or phone calls with people in our field. Blogging has changed that feeling for me.
To learn
There is nothing like public speaking or writing to make me think as carefully and as clearly as I am capable of. By pulling my own thoughts together, I learn. By reading other people’s entries and participating by sometimes posting, I learn.
When will I blog?
I will ask myself before posting is: Is my idea ready for public consumption? I will only blog decently formed ideas. My ideas don’t have to be as polished as a published paper or article but my entries have to be more than raw thoughts.
But I also want to give myself some space. I enjoy the freedom of blogging. Blogging isn’t about a perfectly polished paper nor should it be. Sometimes, blogging is an opportunity to share an idea when the idea is at the seedling stage. This means I can enjoy writing without fretting about perfection. I’ll know from comments posted whether my insights resonate with other people or not. (So post comments.)
So, why would you read my blog?
To hear my thoughts about one of the four T’s: testing, technology, tools and techniques. See how our thoughts align or don’t. You can post conflicting thoughts. You can push me to defend, shape or polish an idea.
To join me in a learning exchange. You might learn from an idea I share. You might post a comment that helps me. Our entries may help other people, specifically other testers. We can alternate between teaching and learning. We can provide answers to seekers and have a place we can both seek.