Every Sunday night, bloggers can participate in #blogchat, a weekly Twitter discussion about the weekly topic. It was started by @MackCollier and, in my opinion, is a good example of what a Twitter chat should be. I thought it would be fun to comment here on some of the tweets made during #blogchat every week, since not everyone has time to  participate. And since I often have something to say that doesn’t fit into 140 characters.

Tonight’s topic? It’s an open mic night, so lots of subjects are being discussed.

Right off the bat, one caught my eye:

@2ndchancemoon: I blog because its mine all mine and I can move it in any direction at any time. Love that!

It’s something that we as bloggers forget sometimes – one of the reasons we blog is to be our own bosses. In the shuffle of trying to make money, find readers, and create content, it’s easy to get frustrated. But if we weren’t doing this because we wanted a slice of the internet to call our own, we’d be blogging for other people and letting them worry about the stresses of money, traffic, and content.

There’s nothing wrong with blogging for other people. I mean, it’s what I’m doing right now. The point here is that sometimes you need to step back from the daily grind and remember why you got into this in the first place – because you love it!

Something that’s also important to remember. On your blog, you get to make the rules. Story time!

A few months ago, a good friend of my got an email from a reader giving her some criticism on her blog. My friend didn’t take it well (what can I say, she doesn’t have a thick skin, poor girl). Immediately, she began redesigning her blog to put the readers’ suggestions into effect. Overall, a lot of these suggestions made her blog stronger.

Some…well, they just didn’t work.

And really, they weren’t bad ideas, they just weren’t good suggests for her. Even if a suggested change from a reader, whether it is constructive criticism or someone just being mean/rude, might add value to your blog, sometimes you have to stop asking yourself whether it’s good for your readers and ask if it is good for you. Don’t lose control of your blog!

Also keep in mind that if something isn’t working on your blog, you can change it. You aren’t obligated to write a certain number of posts per week. You aren’t obligated to post a specific feature, even if it has been tradition on your blog. You aren’t obligated to stick to self-imposed rules. Repeat after me: This is my blog. I get to make the rules!

Check out “Overheard on #Blogchat” here every Sunday to read about some of the most interesting tweets from participating bloggers.