The topic of 'why do you blog' has come up a few times recently.
It's an intriguing one.
Here's my reasons.
- Memory. I have a crap one so need to write things down so I can look back and see what I've done. This blog was created so i could record Torby growing up and milestones and feelings. It's since expanded to include a lot of what I'm doing and feeling.
Sharing of info. Given that I have friends who read this that I don't see very often, I like to let them know what i've been up to. I fail at writing letters or emails of any length. So much of my life is dull and so I never know what to tell people in them. It's nice to still feel connected to people who are too far away.
It's useful as a back-up way to invite people to things..email/phone calls/letters are the amin tool but there are people who slip through the cracks (I have an address book at work and one at home, people are missing off both) This way, te infor is out there and out there and can be considered a general invite.
Sharing links, recipes, amusing things. So I can remember them and so others can be amused/informed/whatever.
Brain dump - I often have too much running through my brain and need to put my thoughts somewhere. The act of writing things down helps me to think through what's happened and figure out why I react the way I do. It's also useful to get advice on things. I don't write it on paper because I tend to lose paper. Because I know a variety of people read this, it also forces me to censor what I say and therefore not let myself get too wrapped up in negative emotions. I have my other blog that I sue to vent when i'm really upset or annoyed. It's not written on paper so it can't be found and used against me or hurt people. It's useful to truly get things off my chest thatt are too close or too ugly or too whatever. I explode and then feel a smidge better. No-one knows who or what I'm talking about so it's (relatively) safe. Codenames are still used.
I like blogging. it lets me say things without an immediate reaction from people. It's sharing info with a buffer. I get to let people know how I feel without having to deal without dealing with their sympathy/outrage/pity/gleeful delight/schadenfreude face-to-face.
I can't be accused of playing favourites or being secretive if I post it here.
It's a learning process in how to walk the fine line between sharing too much (really? my blog is public? people can read it and get upset by what I've written? whoulda thunk??). It's a learning process to not let my passive-aggresive tendencies get the better of me. It's a learning process to use the power of the internets for good and not for evil. It's all a learning process but I think I'm getting there.
How about you? Why do you blog? Why do you not blog?
4 comments:
I originally started my blog as a 'this is how I make/made stuff'. Then I stopped making as much stuff and, so my friends and some family wouldn't go mad at me for not updating, I started writing random shi... stuff. Then I felt I had to start a new one and I just kept up the random, but I made the decision to almost always include a picture with each post to make it visually stimulating.
Apparently, people read it. They've told me. I guess they like it because they keep coming back to it, so I can't be that dull. :)
I tend to blog for the same reasons as you. I need somewhere to dump the stuff going around in my head, when I am upset/angry it works the best if I write it down, get the 'blah' out and then I can deal with it relatively calmly ;-)It also helps being aware to sensor - saves getting too wrapped up in the issue. I also like it as an information sharing thing and because I have friends all over Oz and some overseas, it's a great way to catch up/stay in touch. It's not that I don't care enough to send emails, write a letter or pick up the phone - sometimes it's a time management thing and I need to use little pockets of time to catch up with people. Blogging is good for that - hey I'm still alive and this is some of the stuff I have been doing ;-) I have 3 blogs - one for my ramblings, one for my chickens and one I started as a dress diary although that one I am pretty crap at keeping updated ;-)
I started my blog (apart from For Battle) when i knew i was moving overseas.
It was a way to record the process and let the very small group know what was happening.
Its still for that. A good way to let my family and friends know I'm still kicking and have ferrets.
Its still fun. I sometimes wish i had a theme like some of my fav blogs but they do it so much better than i could so i'm happy to read and link.
I don't do really super personal stuff, one because I don't have many dramas and if i do I feel weird talking about it, its my problem to deal with.
It's not my thing to bare all.
I cant bitch about work too much because its too small of a town and everyone will know who i am talking about and just on the off chance it gets back, its not worth it. I really like my job so again, lameo angst.
My Mum still has the emails i sent in '99 on our year long world trip. No blogs then but the story is still there.
Blog if ya want..in the end its all about you...
and it is fun to read back sometimes.
I love reading my friends blogs. You are soo far away that the smallest thing is a connection and makes me smile.
I'm actually going through the process of reviewing the purpose of my blog since it's changed a bit since I first started writing it. At that point it was simply a way of getting stuff off my chest and talking to people (even if there was noone listening) because there weren't too many other opportunities for that in my life at the time.
It's become much more a way of communicating with my friends, and it's also been a way of making new ones. I also use it to work through thoughts about all sorts of things - I write more or less considered essays, some of which may find their way into other forums. Mostly though, it's just somewhere to put the non-academic writing, which I do pretty much every day, so that I can find it, and that's fuelled by the impulse to record. When I was feeling particularly invisible, the blog was a good way of reassuring myself that I exist.
There's been a lot of negativity out there about blogging lately - usually from people who don't. Fine - they don't have to do it and they don't have to read it, but I want to do it, so I will.
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