Why do you blog?It fascinates me that so many people do. Who would have thought that so many of us were starved of this facility to communicate with complete strangers and get feedback from them? I get the impression, from the blogs I read, that most of you are jolly people with friends, interests and hobbies – not introverted souls with no one to talk to.
(Except perhaps the Person from Salford and such like hoverers in the background. No, actually I reckon the Person from Salford is just very, very bored at work. I was a bit horrified, by the way, over Christmas to find that my statistics had plummeted – till it occurred to me that a lot of you must read blogs at work. You’re not so interested in other people's lives as to waste precious holiday time reading about them, but working time is a different matter. No wonder the economy’s going down the drain.)
What will eventually happen to all our blogs? They must be on some huge server somewhere – I can’t imagine such hugeness, but surely it will one day be full: choked with all our deep thoughts about vinyl and sewing and cats and weather and plants? One day, I suppose, Mr Blogger will shout “No more!” and delete us all.
Or will it remain, an enormous bank of material for future social historians? But there’s so much of it! How could any researcher trawl through the vast heap of words to extract the gems? The first blog I ever read was that of someone I was at school with – she mentioned it on her Friends Reunited message. Then I clicked on Next Blog and found Paul, a wonderful chap in his 80s in California. Which was such luck, because from then on, Next Blog led me only ever to crowds of illiterate teenagers rambling on about their college room mates and the movies they’d just seen.
Why do they blog? Why do I? Why do you?
Such deep thoughts for this time of night, Isabelle! Speaking for myself, my blog is a combination of an easy way to journal stuff I want to remember (things my children say and do for example), an outlet for my increasingly grumpy old lady rants and a forum in which to write the kind of light-hearted inanity that my job frowns upon! I am not clever, talented or disciplined enough to write a novel but I can witter on for a paragraph about my own angst or broken boiler. The fact that other people read it and give feedback is a HUGE bonus. And you meet such nice people!!!!
ReplyDeleteOh my Isabelle. You're always just so darn funny. If I thought I could swear in your comments, I wouldn't say darn either LOL. Ok, I do admit to SOME reading at work, but I did manage to keep up with you during my 2 week holiday break! Is it my fault that work is SO boring and you are SO interesting? No. Therefore, it's YOUR fault the economy is going down the tubes. As for MY blogging reasons, Loth has pretty much stated my thoughts. It's a journal and what a happy accident that it allows for feedback and lots of imaginary real friends!
ReplyDeleteI started blogging for myself and my family but have ended up with lots of friends all over the world. I too fear that my blogs and blogger friends might suddenly disappear or they will start charging huge fees to use Blogger. I need to save mine to disk.
ReplyDeleteI can always count on you to have kind comments, perceptive observations and thought-provoking questions.
ReplyDeleteI blog because I have an odd, almost palpable need to write. I also crave a sense of connection with those who've read what I've written. I don't find journal-writing or less personal venues such as my webzine particularly satisfying.
I probably fall more closely into the "introverted soul with no one to talk to" category than many of your electronic pen pals. I do have friends, but these relationships have grown more distant with my having a child. Most of my friends are well past the child-bearing stage or have little interest in it. If I see a friend in person every six months, I'm doing well.
Ordinarily I'd advise someone in my position to get out of the house and meet new people. Join a hobby group or go volunteer at a charity, for heaven's sakes! However, I find that by the end of a full day of chores, cooking and childcare, I have little or no desire to go anywhere, much less meet new people. Blogging provides me with a group of interesting people to interact with on a time-available basis.
Bottom line: blogging fulfills my own peculiar set of selfish needs.
I suppose I blog so I have a record of my weight loss journey and I can look back and see what I was thinking at a certain point. It's also easier than keeping a written journal as, since beginning to type a lot, I have lost the ability to write for lengthy periods of time without having a very achy arm. And kind people, like yourself, sometimes comment and make me feel as though I'm not alone. Love the picture of the cats as kittens - so tiny and beautiful!
ReplyDeleteLoth and Tanya said it for me. most of my friends are scattered across the globe, so blogging gives me friends, right there in our computer room, just a click away.I love to write anyway. who knew oeople would actually like to read my blathering. it makes my day everytime someone comments!
ReplyDeleteWhy do I blog? Well, it is a place to record things I am doing, and feeling, and it keeps my scattered family and friends updated. And I love to write stuff down, and this way I actually get feedback! Then there is the new community of friends which I have discovered, and that makes it real in a sense. It is not just me and the computer here after all. And yes, the grammar is up the creek but I know what I mean!
ReplyDeleteI was reluctant to start, and now I would not have missed this for the world.Late at night, I feel as though I am talking to people, when it could be a rather lonely place otherwise.
Blogging seemed a nice way of sharing poetic thoughts and images, circumventing the more mundane requirements of conversation and relationships.
ReplyDeletethere are only SO many persons who come to galleries with your work in it, and frankly, most people think I'm a nut anyway......
and LOOK, I made friends in the process! I LOVE that, really.
Loth, Tanya & Molly have said it all for me.
ReplyDeleteI began when one of my favourite quilters had mention of her blog ina magazine, so I went to check it out.
I too, get such a thrill when people read my posts, & comment.
It has become a vital part of my day.
Blogging, for me, is the ultimate procrastination tool ... Will I clean the bathrooms?? I'll just have a quick peep at some blogs before I start. Will I cook a dinner? I'll just have another quick peep ...Ooops ... burnt offerings ...
ReplyDeleteI really do need to get my priorities in order ...
Boy, have those kitties ever grown!!
ReplyDeleteI blog because it inspires me to expand my frame of reference in the arts. Also, because I love to travel and when I can't, I get to touch a bit of other cultures and their traditions, etc. through blogging. Only,I've found we're all more alike than different.
I've made lots of wonderful friends and even talk to several of them on the phone now and then.
However, blogging is taking up so much of my day (my evenings are for my husband... dinner, a DVD, chatting, and reading) I may cut my blogging back to just a few days a week.
I'm off for a short nap before dinner.
Have a nice weekend.
Hugs,
Joni
Mine's to keep a record of life with the kids. My long term memory is appalling so I need a back-up. Also, i agree with Rise, it is very good way to get out of doing the housework.
ReplyDeleteThose kitties! Such gorgeous growth.
I blog because it's more fun than scrubbing the bath.
ReplyDeleteJust love the comparison photo of kittens and catlets! How cute is that! Why do I blog? For most of the reasons given by everyone else here, so I'm not going to type those reasons all over again. But like you, I do wonder how and where on earth or in space is all this stuff kept? I can't figure out how it can all be stored so we can access it and continue to add to it. One of the great mysteries of a computerised world. And yes, I hate the thought of Somebody flicking a switch and deleting all of us - WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI used to keep a paper journal, but blogging is so much more fun since you can have pictures and such. None of my family or friends know about my blog (at least not that I'm aware of!) though.
ReplyDeleteI do it because I have become a hopeless addicted bloghead with narcissistic cravings for feedback which can only be fed by giving other people feedback first.
ReplyDeleteNo, actually it's because I always loved making words and pictures but you're supposed to stop doing that when you get out of primary school, or at least keep it to yourself and not frighten the horses. Then I found I could do it again and people even sometimes wanted to look at it.
My hope is that all this elixir of our lives is being siphoned off by a super race of beings up there somewhere who are using it as some kind of cyber-spiritual mortar to build the Heavenly City... but maybe that's a bit optimistic.
I think I'd better shut up now.