Why We Do This

Wherein Our Heroine Examines the Reasons.

Reading an active blog is sort of like that movie "Four Weddings and a Funeral." You start to run into the same people over and over again. One blog leads you to another, and - surprise! - the same cast of characters is there, munching canapes and holding glasses of champagne. Like-minded people start to congregate in ever-widening Venn Diagrams of overlapping opinion.

Eventually, acquaintances start to form. They probably lead to friendships: I can't say for myself yet, as I am too new to this game. But it makes sense.

I would venture to guess, though, that everyone came to the party expecting something a bit different. Some want a soapbox. Some want to spark conversation. Some want to practice their writing skills. Some want a creative outlet. The list goes on and on.

The thing is, the more you do this, the more you wonder if you are a thousand miles from civilization, screaming into the wilderness. Occasionally, a comment comes in and you say, "AHA! There is someone out there who reads me!" But generally, those are few and far between. In the meantime, you may start to analyze the silence. Does it mean that your readership (an exclusive club to be sure) agrees with you? Or do they disagree and are simply being polite? Or do they disagree and think you so incapable of rational thought that they won't even bother to engage you? What if your readership is just bored? Should I quit? Why did I start doing this again? Are those reasons good enough any more?

An online acquaintance of mine, Mary Kay, is going through this sort of analysis. I understand the impulse. So far, the writing itself and the occasional conversation it sparks are enough for me. I hope they are for her as well.

Afternote: It is rather disturbing to me that the spell-checker in my blogging program doesn't recognize the word "blog." Sometimes technology is SO twentieth-century.

Posted: Friday - May 14, 2004 at 08:09 AM | |