Tara Hunt is an entrepreneur, the author of The Whuffie Factor (reviewed here) and has been blogging regularly since 2004.  She has previously started and run businesses like Rogue Agency and Citizen Space, a co-working environment. She is now working on a new start-up, Shwowp, as a co-founder and is working on her next book.

Tara recently took some time to answer some questions for us as a part of the Thoughts From series.  Have a read!

1. Why did you start blogging and why do you keep blogging?

I started blogging because I was reading blogs more and more and found my comments were turning into blog posts themselves. I think I put up a blogger.com version of HorsePigCow initially in 2003…but really started to post in 2004.

Why I keep blogging? Well, when I actually get around to posting, it is because I have more to say than 140 characters worth. Twitter took over my day-to-day years ago, but every now and then, there is a subject that needs more time and care to explain. Plus, my blog is my resume of ideas. It’s important to maintain that. I don’t know what is going to happen with the content I post in other places.

2. What kind of people influence you and your decisions? Do you have mentors that you go to for advice? Do you put much weight on the opinions of friends and peers?

Many people influence me and my decisions. I guess it depends on the subject and the day. Many of my ideas come from everyday interactions with the world that seem backwards…which leads me to question the way things are done, which leads me to think about potentially better ways to approach the world. I really go with my gut there. But sometimes I’ll read something – a post or an article or a book – that uncovers another layer for me. Quite often that post, article or book won’t even be in the topic of business (where I usually blog). It will be in anthropology or economics or tort law or the like. And that will take me down a whole new path.

As far as mentors, I have MANY on many different levels. Most are my friends and peers now, which leads me to saying YES, I put a good amount of weight on the opinions of friends and peers.

3. What’s one thing about Canada that’s better than the US and vice versa?

Real health care. Generally, though, Canada has a great approach to community, which I prefer over the individualistic tendencies of the US. Countries, businesses, lives aren’t built on individuals, they are built by communities of people. I think Canada has a really great balance of community with individualism. We are all unique, but work together to make this a great country. And we take care of one another because we would hope for the same if we ran into hard times.

As for what’s better in the US? High risk tolerance. Americans are awesomely balls-out risk takers in general. This leads to great ideas emerging out of the US – ideas that seem crazy are still pursued. And they are usually the right ones. I learnt to think crazier in the US. I’m trying to bring that risk tolerance to Canada.

4. Is there any need in this world for a BlogHim (the male gender equivalent of BlogHer)? For that matter, is society at the point where a BlogHer is needed (wanted and useful aside, is it needed?)

Well, BlogHer is still needed and I think it’s both a beautiful and unfortunate thing. Unfortunate because, well, we still see the top of every list being full of men…mostly because the lists themselves represent a ‘male’ idea of success (numbers, authority). So, until the yin/yang balances, BlogHer is necessary. But I also think it’s a beautiful thing because it’s been so encouraging to a diversity of women to come out of their shells and express themselves online.

As for a BlogHim…sure! But it can’t just be about elevating men’s voices. We have a good amount of that already. I’d love to see a BlogHim that takes a look at the changing roles of gender for men and how to really embrace it. I think men need forums of expression just as much as women. I like seeing men being able to get in touch with their emotional intelligence. It’s a safer space with other men, I think. And the more men who brave it, the better off we will all be.

5. Do you think that social media and “the blogosphere” have changed much since the Kathy Sierra harassment incident in 2007?

No. People are people still.

6. Are you ever tempted to live your life less publically on the Web? As an example, you seem to be a regular FourSquare user, which provides a record or trail of where you’ve been.

Quite the contrary. I am finding myself more and more comfortable with putting myself out there because the more I do, the more interesting people and opportunities I come across. I also like having a record of my history to look back at. Emotionally, though, I’m finding myself more guarded online…but that’s just because I realize that I’m not the only one who is effected by this and I like to respect others’ boundaries.

7. What was the biggest surprise (to you) that came from the process of writing The Whuffie Factor?

Working with a traditional publisher. I won’t go into that.

8. Do you have a “desert island” list of books? If you do, would you share them with us?

Yes. Counting for Nothing – Marilyn Waring; The Origins of Virtue – Matt Ridley; Pardox of Choice – Barry Schwartz; No Logo – Naomi Klein; Disembodying Women – Barbara Duden; Social Intelligence – Daniel Goleman; The Gift – Lewis Hyde; Flow – Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi; Status Anxiety – Alain de Botton

But I wish I could also take some of my favourite thinkers to that dessert island and just hear them talk. People like Chimamanda Adichie, Phil Howard, Jane McGonigal, Shashi Tharoor, Helen Fisher and Sir Ken Robinson.

All of these people have helped me form ideas (and more).

9. Pretend the Internet is destroyed overnight. What do you do when you wake up the next morning?

After I walk my dog…which I do despite the existence of the internet…

Help rebuild it. It’s the most important invention of our time. It’s leading in amazing directions. If the question was that I was cut off from it for the rest of my life, it would be fine. I just want to know that it exists.

10. Any closing thoughts for our readers?

I’m feeling an unfortunate cynicism around me these days…and I know where it comes from. It comes from the same old same old playing itself out on something new and exciting. Old attitudes and values and hierarchies are playing out on the web, which should break down old ideas, help a diversity of voices emerge and create what Jon Husband calls wirearchies. That’s how things were playing out before the web was seen as a new financial frontier anyway. But I refuse to be cynical about it. I really want to just help the good ideas emerge. The cynicism does nothing for this. We need more positive energy.