Why blog? Is this what everyone's first post is about? Probably. What's the point? Will anyone read it? All questions I imagine people consider.
For me the greatest benefit is that the process of writing something down helps clarify it. When something floats around in my head there's always gaps, things I haven't thought of or things I believe I understand but actually don't. At some point while transferring the information from my brain to the computer these gaps become apparent. This encourages me to research the aspects I've missed or not understood. I am also one of those people who learns best by explaining a problem to others. So blogging in this way hopefully will increase my understanding of the subject I blog about and increase the chances that I will retain the information. Double win! On the other hand I may just rant about some stuff nobody cares about.
You never know, I may actually get better at writing too. It has never been my forté. Mostly writing is a painful, slow process and I'm rarely happy with the end result. Does it make sense? Is it logical? Have I got my points across? Is there any point blogging about subjects that considerably more intelligent people have already covered? Do I sound like an idiot? Probably. Ahhh sod it, practice makes perfect. It's good to get outside your comfort zone now and again. Hopefully, after some practice, it will increase my communication skills; my thoughts will tip out of my brain in a more logical fashion and I won't have to rewrite each post several times (this post has been rewritten at least three times).