Steven Hodson wrote a good post about the various types of bloggers out there and some of the motivating factors behind it. In it he names me as a prime example of a blogger working for a larger network (in this case VentureBeat) biding my time and putting food on the table while I wait for future opportunities. I thought it might be a good time to clarify my position on what I do, since I’ve been at it for about 7 months professionally now.

Basically, this will just be a brain dump of sorts — which I love that I still have a decently well-read personal blog to do.

While I’ll admit that I wasn’t always dead set on being a full-time blogger or even writer (I did study film in college after all), I am now absolutely dedicated to it. I find what I do to be more interesting and more fun than anything I’ve done in the past. It’s challenging but stimulating. There isn’t a day that goes by where I don’t learn something new or meet someone interesting. That sounds lame, and like a canned answer, but it’s absolutely true.

What do I want from blogging in the future? I want to be the best at what I do. I wouldn’t bother if that wasn’t the case. Certainly, I’m not there yet, but I’m in this for the long haul. I’m 26 years old. If I’m able do this for another 10, 20 or 40 years…

The role of the media is changing. We’re watching newspapers die all around us. The work me and the other Venturebeatniks (yes, that’s our awesome name for ourselves) are doing — as well as what all of the other “professional” blogs/sites are doing are replacing and/or merging with them. You can see this in VentureBeat’s syndication deal with The New York Times.

It’s not a question of blogs being better than newspapers, it’s just a different game. The way content is being consumed has changed and that has allowed professional blogging to be a legitimate career. Certainly, it’s not for everyone, but it will done by a growing number of people going forward.

In a struggling economy advertising support may fall, but blogging will endure. It’s not a passing fad. People consume content, we create content.

In terms of being “rich and famous,” which Steven focuses much of his post around, that’s kind of secondary in my opinion. If you do good work, people will recognize you, it’s just a matter of on what level. That can be determined by a number of things. Certainly more people know me now that I write on VentureBeat than they did when I only did ParisLemon — but I’ve also gotten better at what I do since then.

Interestingly, I’ve found that some of being popular on the Internet also has to do with interacting with other “popular” people in the real world. That’s kind of lame, but I’ve definitely noticed that since moving to San Francisco earlier this year. SF is a pretty incestuous crowd — and I don’t necessarily mean that in a bad way — but, if someone knows you, someone else will and so on. That’s too bad for someone like Steven, who lives in Canada, but it sounds like he doesn’t care too much about the fame aspect.

That’s good. Some of it’s fun, but in the end of the day it’s all pretty much bullshit.

Speaking of bullshit, sometimes I think all this “social media” stuff like pimping your work on Twitter (which I do) and FriendFeed (which I do) and Digg (which I try not to do) and Facebook (which I don’t really do) is all kind of bullshit. Sometimes I hate the circle jerks that seem to take place on FriendFeed and elsewhere. It’s all a game — most things are — but, at least for now it’s a somewhat necessary game to play because everyone else plays it.

In terms of “riches,” just as with anything else, if you’re good at what you do, you should be paid accordingly. Some individuals are selling blogs for $15,000,000, but for most people blogging will translate into being paid like a journalist. If you’re a very good one, you’ll get paid well. A mediocre or new one will get paid less.

One thing I do regret is that I don’t have as much time to write here, on my personal site, as much anymore. But that’s because I’m focusing most of my energy on VentureBeat right now as we attempt to keep the site growing at a rate which it has been over the past year. It’s all about finding a balance between work and personal things, but right now work needs me to commit myself fuller to that, and I’m happy to do it.

One day I’m confident I will be able to balance things out more, but right now I’m pretty happy with where things are and that’s really all that matters so I’m not going to stress out about it.