Blogging is an interesting hobby. At least I consider it a hobby, a hobby mixed with therapy.
I have several friends who have blogs. Their blogs are fascinating not just for their content, but for their look into how a person's brain works.
I took a class last spring in Oral History. The professors drilled into our heads the following: Medium, Message, and Massage. The Medium for all blogs is a website with entries, simple enough. The Message varies dramatically and is what makes reading them so interesting. One look at the blog roll I have at the right will show you just how varied the Message found in the blogosphere can be.
What I find currently interesting is the Massage. In Oral History Massage is how you change and mold what is recorded by your tape recorder into something that makes sense in the written word. It isn't as easy as it sounds. You aren't changing what is said necessarily, but HOW it is said. Reading the blogs of people I know shows me not only what they think, but how they think it. Their personalities, or at least the aspect of their personalities that they are presenting, are evident. Some people think very clearly and state things in the simplest of terms. I'd consider my blog one of these. I don't need (want) to play with words to get my point across. Some people are writing their blogs specifically to play with words. It's a writer's dream. An infinite blank page and a potential audience of millions. Or at least a few trusted souls.
Others have a specific topic, and although the option to digress is there and they often do go off topic, their blogs return to the subject at hand, or as defined in the "About this blog" section.
I personally find the more personal blogs the most interesting. That's not surprising given the very personal and sometimes surprisingly intimate nature of my blog. But that's where the therapeutic nature of my blog comes in.
Why do I blog? I never kept a journal. I discovered through a series of non-fiction writing courses that writing about myself is not only kind of fun, but I learned a lot about myself, and let go of some inner demons (some I didn't even know I had). The thing is, without the deadline of a class or the feedback from my peers I wouldn't write. Blogging gives a person just enough sense of an audience and just enough feedback via comments that it compels me to write.
Blogging is certainly not a modest hobby. The public nature precludes modesty. Honestly, I want the attention. It's validating and soothes the ego when someone posts a comment. So far I haven't attracted any negative attention or I might feel differently.
Blogging is infinitely fascinating on more levels than a monitor and a keyboard might suggest. The language, the sociology, the community, the interaction. Fascinating.
Note: My lovely and talented friend Jen M. has posted what I consider a very brave post about pedophilia. It's also a smart one. Just because you think you know where the danger is, doesn't mean it's the only danger. Don't look over your shoulder so much you forget to look in front of you. Or vice versa.
I have several friends who have blogs. Their blogs are fascinating not just for their content, but for their look into how a person's brain works.
I took a class last spring in Oral History. The professors drilled into our heads the following: Medium, Message, and Massage. The Medium for all blogs is a website with entries, simple enough. The Message varies dramatically and is what makes reading them so interesting. One look at the blog roll I have at the right will show you just how varied the Message found in the blogosphere can be.
What I find currently interesting is the Massage. In Oral History Massage is how you change and mold what is recorded by your tape recorder into something that makes sense in the written word. It isn't as easy as it sounds. You aren't changing what is said necessarily, but HOW it is said. Reading the blogs of people I know shows me not only what they think, but how they think it. Their personalities, or at least the aspect of their personalities that they are presenting, are evident. Some people think very clearly and state things in the simplest of terms. I'd consider my blog one of these. I don't need (want) to play with words to get my point across. Some people are writing their blogs specifically to play with words. It's a writer's dream. An infinite blank page and a potential audience of millions. Or at least a few trusted souls.
Others have a specific topic, and although the option to digress is there and they often do go off topic, their blogs return to the subject at hand, or as defined in the "About this blog" section.
I personally find the more personal blogs the most interesting. That's not surprising given the very personal and sometimes surprisingly intimate nature of my blog. But that's where the therapeutic nature of my blog comes in.
Why do I blog? I never kept a journal. I discovered through a series of non-fiction writing courses that writing about myself is not only kind of fun, but I learned a lot about myself, and let go of some inner demons (some I didn't even know I had). The thing is, without the deadline of a class or the feedback from my peers I wouldn't write. Blogging gives a person just enough sense of an audience and just enough feedback via comments that it compels me to write.
Blogging is certainly not a modest hobby. The public nature precludes modesty. Honestly, I want the attention. It's validating and soothes the ego when someone posts a comment. So far I haven't attracted any negative attention or I might feel differently.
Blogging is infinitely fascinating on more levels than a monitor and a keyboard might suggest. The language, the sociology, the community, the interaction. Fascinating.
Note: My lovely and talented friend Jen M. has posted what I consider a very brave post about pedophilia. It's also a smart one. Just because you think you know where the danger is, doesn't mean it's the only danger. Don't look over your shoulder so much you forget to look in front of you. Or vice versa.
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