Nothing original to say

I sat down to polish up today’s post on the latest HR hot topic: asking for applicants’ Facebook passwords. Before I started writing I looked over the latest blog posts and realized some other much more insightful people had already written what I was planning to write. Much to my embarrassment I realized that my thoughts on this hot topic really weren’t as original as I thought.  If you want my opinion I don’t think the issue is as pervasive as the press makes it sound and the real decision rests with what type of employers we want to be.  Kudos to the writers out there who said that much better than I would have;

So it got me wondering, are my thoughts and opinions reflective of what I truly think?  Or do I just sound like everyone else?  The world of HR professionals who actively embrace social media is a small group.  Are we all just “talking” to each other and agreeing on the same things without any true discourse?

How do you go about challenging your beliefs to ensure you aren’t simply repeating what other brilliant people are already saying? I am concerned that I am reading too much of people who think like me. If that is the case why am I out here regurgitating what somebody else already said? After all, if I’m not providing a unique perspective what is the point of blogging?

In an attempt to get an understanding of the HR blogging landscape I subscribe to 157 blogs.  Am I spending too much time reading other blogs instead of focusing on my own writing?  Or maybe I should just stay away from current events (I was going to write a post on Trayvon Martin but again was beaten to the punch)?

I’m not sure what the answer is here but I’m going to try a twofold approach to jog my creative juices and take my existential blogging angst down a notch:
1. Take a blog vacation.  I’m not going to stop writing but I am going to cut down on the number of blogs I read.  I think all that reading is getting in the way of me dreaming up some great posts.
2. Make more time for writing.   I am a last minute kind of gal, so I tend to wait until Tuesday night for a Wednesday post.  Now I’ve made progress in the past few months…  I try to start or outline my blog posts over the weekend…then finish during the week.    I’ve noticed that some of my most popular posts are the ones that have gone through many revisions,  this leads me to believe giving myself more lead-time is a good thing.

I’m not sure if this will help or not but I think the above may be a good way to get the creative juices flowing.

What about you?  Do you find yourself having trouble drumming up topics or opinions that haven’t already been expressed?  What do you do to ensure you aren’t in a bubble?  Or do you think there is no bubble?  Please leave your advice and suggestions in the comments; I would really appreciate any advice.