Welcome to my blogger’s nightmare.

A few nights ago, I sat on my bed—recovering from a nasty cold and fiddling with this blog behind the scenes. As I was trying to tweak some SEO elements (which I barely understand and have no business touching), I inadvertently and stupidly adjusted the permalink settings for This Odd House, suddenly resetting every single social media sharing counter on this site back to 0.

Go ahead.

Scroll down a few posts.

You’ll see what I mean.

They. Are. ALL. GONE.

Every single hard-earned click of validation has disappeared.

According to the experts, any bit of blogging credibility I had built up over the past six years has vanished into thin cyber air.

My first response was confusion and disbelief. What just happened?! Surely, NOT THAT! So I started pushing more buttons, scrambling to undo whatever I just did…and…probably making it worse in the process.

In the few days since then, I have had moments of frustration. I’ve entertained the idea of giving up blogging and social media altogether. Why don’t I just shut the whole thing down? The enemy tells me, “You’re no good at this, you know.” He hisses in my ear, “If you had actually read your copy of Blogging for Idiots, you might not be in this mess.” He has a point.

However…as you may know, I am also in the middle of writing a blog series on CALLING. So—as much as I hate to admit it—this travesty has forced me to reconsider why I do this thing in the first place.

I know my primary goal isn’t social share counts, but sometimes when those clicks feel like the only concrete currency I have, it’s easy to get confused.

So, I am taking this opportunity to compose a “Blogging/Social Media Manifesto,” to remind myself of what actually matters, to hammer those stakes back in the ground.

HERE is why I post online…

• I post for the glory of God alone. His is the only approval I need.
• I post for the encouragement and edification of anyone who might read.
• I post as an act of obedience.
• I post because I am called to do so.
• I post to create art and, in so doing, to image my Creator.
• I post because He gave me a voice and He intends for it to be used.
• I post because the world needs to know Him.
• I post to process my own thoughts and beliefs.
• I post to better discern and articulate truth.
• I post to challenge thinking and the status quo.
• I post to point to healing.
• I post as an act of stewardship of His good gifts.
• I post to—God willing—foster growth, starting with my own.
• I post as an offering of love.

Of course, I don’t get it right all the time. In fact, I fail frequently. But this—THIS—is the ideal. This is the goal.

What about you? Why do you post anything online? Why do you blog? Why do you use social media? What key points would your “manifesto” include?

Feel free to adopt or adapt this version for your own purposes. Post it by your computer. Refer to it regularly to remind yourself why you do what you do.

Or even share it…if you’re so inclined…makes no nevermind to me. 😉

Update: Through the magic of plugins, I managed to recover some of those social share counters! Regardless, all of the above still applies.