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“Are you a blogger?” the Nordstrom’s attendant asked me when I gave her my email address to receive a receipt via email. I gave her a smile of delight. This was the first time I’d had anyone make the leap from my email address to the fact that I must have a blog. I usually got a question about the “custom-ness” of a sandrasays.com email address, but the blogging question was new. And, now, my answer is “yes.” That wasn’t always the case.
July 4th marks the seven-year anniversary of this blog. Or rather, the seven-year anniversary since I registered the domain name on which I created this blog. I got the domain because I wanted to retire an old email address and didn’t want to use gmail or hotmail as my primary personal contact. So I got the domain name for the email address, but created the blog as a “why not?” I wrote my first post (now full of defunct links and info), but will be honest that the early posts and info were sporadic and just plain bad.
I have added posts to this site continuously over the years, but very hit-and-run. I wrote when I remembered to get back to it or when something moved me enough to write about it. I didn’t create a schedule, didn’t check my stats, didn’t foster a community, didn’t work on improving the content or the readership. I didn’t even try to keep to one topic or theme. The site just existed, and every once in a while I added some content.
I was not a blogger.
I do not believe that you get to call yourself a blogger just because you started a blog and you post something a few times a year, or even a few times a month. Starting a blog is ridiculously easy, nearly anyone can do it. It takes more than being able to point to a spot online to say “I’m a blogger.”
At the same time, I do not believe that you have to post everyday or even every week. You don’t have to make money with your blog. And you don’t have to become “internet famous” before you can say that you’re a blogger. You don’t have to have a blog as a business to be a blogger.
So where’s the line? At what point do you call yourself a blogger?
More to the point, at what point do I call myself a blogger?
This is a something I’ve had to consider in the last year, as I kept answering “no.” I share a lot of content on social media, but I didn’t blog often… or so I thought. Then I started to pull together all my feeds (this blog, the mini-blogs, and my new project). I started to count the dozen+ posts I share every month (it’s more now), and realized that I didn’t have to write War and Peace for the post to matter.
So I’ve answered the question for me: I blog, so I am a blogger.
Is there a test we can use on everyone else?
Photo via http://www.flickr.com/photos/75274024@N00/457089364/.
I am with you… I didn’t want people to think I thought I was cool cause I was a “blogger” so the moment when I started calling myself a Blogger came last year, at my first conference and after about 6 years of blogging… I learned so much and felt official! Haha. But these days I don’t care what others think and you’re right… I blog..therefore I am!
I really like how you said just because one has started a blog, one is not necessarily a “blogger.” I think that’s true. Just because everyone keeps a journal of some form doesn’t make them an “author.” In the same vein, though, doesn’t the end of your post contradict that premise?
Personally, I think you are a blogger because you create content consistently across micro- and macro-blogging platforms, but more importantly, others think of you as a blogger. To me that’s the litmus test. If my peers consider me a blogger, then I am. If they don’t, then I’m not, even though I may like to think I am.
Shonali, yes the end of my post does take a step back because for me, in my one case, I couldn’t come up with a better test: I blog, so I am a blogger. The real question is: when are you actually a blogger? Takes a smarter mind than mine to answer. 🙂
Hello Sandra, trying to answer this question for myself. And searching on google came here to read your post and while reading the following came to mind. I think you can call yourself a blogger, when you have followers that frequently read and react to your posts.
I think it’s different for everyone – some newbie bloggers find their voice and rhythm quickly. Others take a while to settle in or re-invent themselves until they’re satisfied and in their happy blogger place.
Writers write, photographers shoot, cooks cook – you are what you do with passion, frequency and dedication. You definitely ARE a blogger now 🙂 although may have been one for longer than you give yourself credit for, lady.