Karlo: Oh, so you are new to blogging? Welcome!
Blogger: Thanks. Still trying things out. Hope I could get the hang of this.
Karlo: Hahaha. So, where did you hear of blogging?
Blogger: Aaa… sa Mel and Joey. I saw that I could easily earn money from blogging which is why I quickly signed up for one. Hehe. Sana kumita ako dito.
Karlo: Oh…. Really?….

[A conversation with a new blogger over at YM]

Blog? Diba pwede akong maging milyonaryo dyan?

If we would look at the present state of the blogosphere, we would notice that the population of Pinoy bloggers is only a small fraction when compared to the overall number of Pinoy users who use the internet today. Like what I said on my article, “Pinoy Awareness on Blogging“, I have observed that the blogosphere still has great potential to grow, the only thing that we need is to promote ourselves not just to the online world, but also to the outside world.

A lot of bloggers today, including yours truly, are striving to introduce blogging to those who are still unaware of it. We’ve managed to get a few people to jump in on the bandwagon, but the numbers still wasn’t enough to push blogging into a growth spurt. We needed a medium that could reach out to a great audience. We needed the power of television.

Then the opportunity came…

A couple of weeks ago, the show “Mel and Joey” under the GMA7 TV network featured a short segment about earning money through blogging. Finally! A chance for blogging to be discovered by other Pinoys. Such an instance is a rarity in local media which is why everyone looked forward to watching the said show. [Watch the clip here]

The segment took over 2 minutes off the show. It has discussed how people could earn money from blogging with testimonials coming from prominent Pinoy bloggers like Abe of Yugatech and J. Angelo Racoma of The J Spot.

The show turned out fine. They have given a brief overview about blogging but concentrated more on how people could earn money from it. However, I could not help but feel disappointed on how the show has introduced blogging to its viewers.

Blogging is a tool for people to earn money.

With the overall coverage of the segment focused on earning money, I can’t help but think that people might get the wrong idea about the real essence and purpose of blogging. If I were a person who doesn’t have any ideas about blogging, I would easily believe what the show says about it. I would have an impression that blogging is actually a means for people to easily earn money online. Well it is, if we would think about it. However, is it the real definition and purpose of blogging?

My reason for bringing up this issue is that Pinoys offline were a little misinformed about the real definition of the world of blogging. Not that I blame the researchers of Mel and Joey for it, they only wanted something that would easily catch the attention of viewers, that is, to easily earn money with only as little an effort as possible.

But why bother, you ask? At least, the number of bloggers has gone up considerably because of Mel and Joey, right? Isn’t that enough of a promotion to help the blogosphere grow?

Well… We did increase in numbers, but most of them were missing the point of the sense and purpose of the word. We were in need of bloggers, but we got hopefuls who only want to earn money instead.

It’s kind of sad really, the real definition of blogging clouded by misconception that is seeded by misinformation. I have always promoted blogging to others as a tool for expressing one’s thoughts and opinions to an online audience. It may not be the exact definition but it has the main idea in it: we blog to express ourselves and NOT JUST to earn money.

Let us help our community grow by promoting it to the outside world. Let us show everyone that blogging is still interesting without the thought of earning money from it. Interesting enough for it to be featured for what it really is.

Just another one of my personal thoughts. Happy blogging.

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