What the Blog do I know about Blogging?

Well, where to begin?  Today, October 23 is actually my brother Josh’s birthday and happens to be the deadline for starting my own blog!  Why the delay?  Well besides being a chronic procrastinator, this is my very first blog!  I never really considered the satisfaction you can derive from blogging because I’ve never been much of a computer person.  This may seem kind of odd for somebody growing up in the age of social media although computers never really appealed to me.  Maybe that’s because I was never really good with computers to begin with.  Neither were my parents.  When I was 16, my mom bought me my very first computer.  A week later it broke so mom took it to Ballios to get repaired.  I remember the technician asking my mom what was wrong with it.  She said, “I think it has a disease”.  The technician was briefly puzzled but then quickly remarked, “oh you mean it has a virus”.  I could tell that my mom was embarrassed, but she kept her composure and replied, “yes, I think it has a virus”.  Ballios was able to fix my computer though it would continue to get viruses, so I never really used it that much. That didn’t bother me because I was always too busy with school and sports and growing up, a computer wasn’t really necessary for either.

The first time I heard about blogging was when Twitter first came out.  I had no idea what all the buzz was about because twitter sounded like something you do when you’re bored, like twitter your thumbs.  My younger brother Josh on the other hand is a social media king!  Josh dropped out during high school to pursue acting and bodybuilding.  He also re-opened my parents’ pizza restaurant and had a studio where he practiced massage therapy in Santa Fe.  He understood the marketing potential of social media and used it to his advantage.  My brother has about 20,000 followers on Instagram and can attest that social media has influenced his success.  My brother is now an account executive and continues to do bodybuilding and modeling and I couldn’t be more proud of my younger bro!  

Social media used to seem trivial to me, though I have recognized first-hand the transformative power of interacting with virtually every person who owns or has access to a smart device!  I am happy that EDUC 438 has nudged me towards “Blogging Bliss” because as I’m writing this blog, I feel a cathartic sense of connectedness knowing that my 423 classmates and perhaps others in the blogging community will have a chance to experience my personal thoughts, beliefs, opinions and sometimes my stubbornness!  As I continue to blog about reading, writing and learning in secondary and post-secondary education, I am hoping to become more engaged with blogging and maybe even continue after I finish this class!