Blogging Manifesto

I am a blogger, a web publisher, a multi-media content creator. (Note that I am deliberately not calling myself a writer.)

Yes, I string words together regularly for public consumption but I still sometimes use it’s and its incorrectly, and don’t even ask me to explain what a comma splice is because I really don’t know. I know that I really use the word really too much, and I entirely use the word entirely too much. But none of that I believe matters at all. I believe that a blog is meant to be personal and full of mistakes, like humans are. And few super-human beings could possibly churn out regular content that is full of insight and knowledge and perfect grammar and wit and charm and also evoke emotion from readers every single time (and without writing terrible run-on sentences). I do try hard, but I often fail in at least some regard.

Because I also have to post on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram and G+ and YouTube and Pinterest and any other number of platforms. And each are open to judgment by all – for how many “likes” a photo gets on Facebook, for curating properly on Twitter, for over-saturating photos on Instagram. I could go on, but the point is to try and turn off that noise, so that I can just focus on where my passions lie.

I know that I like what I do and I will continue doing it. I know that I will…

— Try to be as self-aware as possible in this blogging journey, and encourage those I trust to call me on my shit.

— Keep learning. I’ll read more to write better, I’ll continue absorbing the genius of Larry Jordan not only to sharpen my video editing but expand my Ned Flanders vocabulary (he regularly uses words like zippity-do-da, which also makes learning super fun).

— Never play the follow/unfollow game, nor falsify my numbers by buying fans or investing in cheap Facebook advertising in countries that offer a quick boost. I am typically of the opinion that each-blogger-to-his/her-own, but with regards to this, it makes us all look bad.

— Sometimes accept sponsored travel by destinations or travel brands, but I will always disclose and not let it influence my judgment. I will be transparent and own my words and ideas.

— Never write a Top 10 list nor tell you what you *must* see/eat/do – there is far too much of that clogging the internet as it is. I will try to write everything with a piece of my heart exposed.

— Do my very best to be respectful of and support other bloggers and the community. This is hard. There is such rapid growth and massive differences in opinion and style, sometimes we can be total assholes to each other, so I need to turn that off too. I like to wear rose-colored glasses that paint the community as helpful and all-in-it-together, even though it often is not. So I shy away and pretend it is. I’m not intending to be rude or unhelpful, I am protecting my rosy view.

— Continue to make mistakes. But my intentions are always good, and I am learning every day.

I just want to tell stories, as imperfect as they may be.

These are my beliefs. And I don’t believe that they need to be yours.

(I say “I” but it is meant to be “we”. This Manifesto is endorsed by Pete.)