At Viralogy, we focus on individuals and their blogs. We love to bring fresh new blogs that deliver value to its readers. Still, one of the few things that many forget to ask is why someone started their blog. Like a butterfly, blogs have transformed from just an online ‘diary,’ to a powerful community building tool. Blogs that were once used as a way for the author to tell others about his or her day, are now being used as a multifaceted branding tool. In less than 5 minutes, anyone can introduce themselves to the world. So now we come back to the big question of “why did you start your blog?” We all have our reasons, but no two are the same.

To explore what the reasoning behind some of our favorite blogs, we decided to ask our friends via Twitter. Here are some of the responses:

Question: In 140 Characters, Why Did You Start Your Blog?

“I started my business of design blog to give back to the design community & help newbie designers & creatives with helpful tips & articles”  — Calvin Lee, author of Method To The Mayhem

“To share my ideas and be someone in the American Social Media world. I’m Argentinian so I knew I had a different perspective.” — Carlos Miceli, author of OwlSparks

“I started my blog to pay my respect to Mark McCormack, author “What They Don’t Teach You At Harvard Business School” — Larry Chiang, author of What They Don’t Teach At Stanford Business School

“I built a server and needed to put something on it” — Andrew Norcross, author of AndrewNorcross.com

“I started my blog so I could 1) get a better job and 2) become a better writer” — James Ryan Moreau, author of Not-So-Literal

“I wanted a place to organize and catalog my thoughts and ideas” — Jaremy Rich, author of TechShots

“To share our experiences (good and bad) after graduating- and the lessons we learned in and out of the workplace” — Ashley Mittman & Jenny LaVelle, authors of The Mad Grad

If there is one thing that connects everyone’s reason for starting a blog, it’s that there is no connection. One way to think of a blog is like a blank canvas. The author or ‘artist,’ can design, create, and write about anything they can imagine. After they have finished, thanks to social media, their work can be shared with the whole world. ‘Critics’ can comment and offer advice and the ‘artist’ can use it as validation for all their hard-work.

For anyone who has a blog, keep blogging. For anyone that doesn’t have one, start one, and to everyone, remember that you are unique. Our ideas are similar, but never the same. Show the world who you are.