It is shocking to me to think that I have been blogging now for five years, and in that time (2005 to Present), I have seen monumental change in not just blogging, but in how we use blogs and social networks to share information.

Over the last five years I have averaged over 350,000 readers per year (low estimate, I did not want to take a chance of inflating the numbers) which gives me a total readership of somewhere on the order of 1.75 million over that time between the two places I make original content, Toolbox and Techwag. On Toolbox, I have 1,054 entries and on Techwag, I have 1,746 entries. This means that each article I write between those systems gets about 625 readers. That is 625 people who may love, hate, comment (sometimes), or otherwise interact with what I am writing.

It is also 625 people whom I have tenuous social contact with via Facebook, Twitter, FriendFeed and other social networking sites. If you look at my friends on all these sites, that average is also the number of people who have made me friends on those networks, give or take a few dozen here and there.

The influence of five years of blogging on my own career has been interesting to observe. In some circles, I am considered an expert, in other circles, I am considered out of touch with what is really happening. I have had readers state both hate and love for what I write. Over that time though one comment has stood out above all the rest and it was “Bless You” for taking an overly complex process with Amazon Web Services and breaking it down into common language that everyone could understand including pictures. This article even though it is dated shows up number four in Google Searches for how to work with Windows and Linux in the Amazon Cloud.

I have also made some excellent friends because of what I write, and with some of them, I want to meet them someday when we are both occupying the same space and time. Blogging has brought remote people closer to the point where I value their opinions and what they have to say. These are people that are well worth following and getting to know better.

I have also not been hired for at least one job that I know of because of the things I have said on my blog. This is also ok, because it was a learning experience and it did not slow me down, and the interview was one of the most painful interviews I have ever been involved with ever. If you are in an interview and you realize two hours into the interview that socially, culturally, and intellectually you will not fit, it is ok to stop the interview, thank everyone for their time and leave.

Over the last five years, I have found blogging to be phenomenally rewarding both professionally and personally. What will be interesting is to see what happens in the next five years and the people I will meet on line and off line, and the continued influence that these people will have on my life and my career.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Regenerated Content Streams and Tuning Out (techwag.com)
• Social America (slog.thestranger.com)