So here I pose the question? For whom do you Blog? Why do I bring it up? Thank you for asking.
Recently, I was at a baby shower. I was talking about blogging and someone said, "'Soon to be mother again' has a blog, too." Soon to be mother retorts so does she. And around it flew...dirty looks, surprised faces and laughs. But blog addresses were not forth coming. (Don't worry, I googled and linked and found who I was looking for.) Again, yesterday I was at a picnic and more hesitant bloggers came forward.
So that has gotten me to thinking. Why do people blog and for whom do they blog? Is there some reason people don't want friends that live close by reading what they have to say? Or is it a privacy issue? Or is it something else all together?
I must admit, when I started blogging I did it for my family and friends who are far away. I did it to keep in touch, share stories, pictures and the day to day with those who can't be here. Because, see, we moved away from our families. So it just made sense. But then I started participating in a few "carnivals" which is fun. I have made comments on strangers' blogs. And I realized that maybe it was okay to have more people reading my blog. This is a place that I can be closer to myself then say in church. My sister commented that I'm pretty funny on my blog (as opposed to in real life, I suppose.) But those of you who know me, also know that I do have a pretty good sense of humor, even if it doesn't come out all that often right now. I read a few strangers' blogs on a daily basis. I doubt that I'll ever MIRL most of them, but somehow there presence on my life helps. And maybe I do that for someone else. If you read this and don't know me please come forward. I'd love that!
I love reading my friends' blogs because it gives me a better insight into who they really are and what they like to do. I gives me an opportunity to understand them and to get to know them in a new way and see things in them and their personalities that I might not see normally.
Webby made a comment, that I don't necessarily agree with. He said some people blog because they don't want to take the time to keep in touch with people. That blogging is a way to let people know what you are doing without making an effort to keep in touch. Blogging does make it easier to keep in touch with people. How many times have you not written an email or letter because there was just too much to say or a picture was necessary. How many mass emails have you sent and received. Isn't blogging it better? Blogging lets people see you when they want to, catch up when they can and it's fun.
So, again I pose the question, for who do you blog? If you blog about this send me the link. It would be fun to see your answers.
3 comments:
I think I blog for me. To keep myself motivated, so I can see what I have done at the end of the day when I'm feeling discouraged. Great post!
I blog as an online scrapbook/journal. I don't write every last thought I have because not every thought is worth sharing with the world.
I agree in part with your dh in that some people may look at it like that. However I blog to be less intrusive to people. I don't like clutter in my inbox and sometimes email updates of my son's latest triumph or newest word, sent to every friend/family member can become annoying to some. Or I may leave others out who want to be included.
I allow my friends, family, strangers to come and go as they please and get the updates they want when they want them IF they want them LOL.
I also love how easy it is to post pictures and videos that some people may not be able to receive in email due to size.
I definitely try to make an effort to communicate and keep in touch with people, however I don't always get reciprocation so again for the reasons above I document and let ppl read at their leisure.
Ok, ok. This one calls for a response. I will admit to being the "soon to be mother again" who had not spread the word about her blog. I wasn't exactly hiding it, but was being a bit careful about advertising it. It's funny because my blog is not the invitation-only type; it's a public thing.
I started blogging because my brother insisted that it would be interesting to see pictures and read about my town. I doubted that, and it took a while before I got the inspiration I needed to begin. My blog isn't exclusively about life in my town, though there's some of that. It's not exclusively about (or for) my family- we have a myfamily.com website for that. I guess I still write with my brother in mind as my audience, though obviously he isn't the only reader.
Sometimes, as liz mccoy said, it's simply my journal. Sometimes it's more interactive with quizzes and questions. As you said, it's often a way to get to know a person better because their writing style is different from their daily-interaction style. A friend of my sister writes to "MAINTAIN A MODICUM OF SANITY BY DUMPING MY BRAIN PERIODICALLY" (taken from her blog's subheading). It's that, too. It's a place to have your "third life" (as my brother's friend wrote)- where you are neither your work-self, nor your family-self, just yourself.
My husband strongly believes in trying to do something creative each day so he likes to write. Blogging, though not a daily occurrence for me, let's me be a little it creative. It makes life better and has the added bonus of allowing others to comment, which can be a confidence-booster.
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