First up on the Network(ed) Rhetorics reading list is Lilia Efimova’s post, Blogging as Breathing, a response to discussions at BlogWalk Umea. I was fascinated by the answers to this question, particularly Ton’s post that she links to (which I use often in presentations) as well as AKMA’s briefer one (which is totally unrelated to BlogWalk, so far as I know.)

I keep blogging because it’s become part of what I do: part of how I learn, part of how I write, part of how I teach, part of how I think, part of how I keep up with technology.

I started blogging out of curiousity and because I wanted to improve my digital literacy. Because I was never very consistent with journals, I worked it into the requirements of an independent study in order to force myself to post. I continued because of the people I “met” - at first friendly meetings, and then professional ones. I keep it up because I can't imagine doing things any other way at this point.

When I give talks on blogging, I always talk about this most recent stage - because academics always want to know how anyone could have time for something like a blog. Not only have blogs become a strong element of my research, they've become part of how I do that research. I find articles and books through other bloggers. I keep up with developing research as the researchers blog it. (Same for developing technologies. I would never have known about deli.cio.us if Jill hadn’t been so enthusiastic about it.) I store research and catalogue it on my blog - witness the ten zillion categories (currently under revision). The blog is where I put all the stuff that needs to be filed and all the stuff that has nowhere else to go - the posts about rosemary and cymbal monkeys and redhead pinups. I say on my About page that I think of the blog as a commonplace book (a la Tom Matrullo), and it really is like a digital version of the big blank artist’s books that I scribbled in and pasted stuff into for years. Elouise Oyzon calls her blog her “external memory”, and I think that’s quite an accurate description too.

Finally, of course, the blog really is a link to a social network. I never really expected blogging to have professional benefits, but I wouldn't have known Collin or Derek or any of the folks in the CCCC Blog SIG* if not for our blogs. I wouldn’t have the opportunity to take this class. Heck, I probably wouldn’t know about half of my colleagues if not for blogging. And I wouldn't know all the other wonderful folks on my blogrolls, the artists and poets and everyday magic folks. After reading someone every day for years, you feel like you know them, even to the point of inviting them to stay at your house. (I’ve received two invitations from long-time blog buddies in the past three months, both of whom have never really met me, ever. And I’d be just as willing to have them in my house, assuming that we actually had a room that was comfortable for them.) And, of course, I likely wouldn’t be with Mister Boyfriend if not for his blog. (Although that was before I started blogging.)

So blogging isn’t “extra” at this point. It’s how I live many aspects of my life. It is, as Lilia says, like breathing, like drinking. After two years, it’s just necessary.**

*To which all you Networked Rhets folks are coming, yes?
**None of this enthusiastic rambling explains my equally necessary annual summer hiatus, but that’s a whole ‘nother post.
***This post was brought to you by the letter K, the number 3, and the parenthetical reference.