Am I really just narcissistic and think that the world would like to know about my (not so) fascinating life?
I stumbled across the blogosphere when doing research on intense exercise/running during pregnancy. Since I don't have any friends that ran through their pregnancy that could relay their experiences, I was happy to find some "case studies" of active woman who blogged about their experiences running through pregnancy. I decided to blog because I thought my experience with infertility would be helpful to other active people. I planned on writing tips for picking fertility doctors; how to deal with the emotional struggles of infertility; how to deal with your spouse, etc., but ended up writing about my exercise life and life in general during and after pregnancy. Through this blog, I have found a network of active peers to learn from and relate to online.
It is clear why a number of blogs I read exist...to inform family and friends about the growth and development of their little ones and their lives. But, no one that I know in real life actually reads my blog and I am not sure that I want them to. If not for purposes of sharing with others, then why do I blog? I think part of it is definitely the desire for connection with other people like myself. But...if I am honest with myself...part of it has to be self absorbed and exhibitionist.
For those blogging for personal reasons (i.e., not just a way to keep family and friends informed about their little ones), why do you think we blog?
- Do we blog simply because the internet gives us another venue to connect with each other? Or does blogging bespeak deeper issues? Do we blog because we have gotten disconnected from each other by our insular lives and are striving to find another way to connect?
- Do we blog as a form of self-expression? Or, do we blog because we live in a society that promotes individualism to the extreme...i.e., encourages us to be self-focused and braggart?
Boy, those are some loaded questions!
Just curious.
Good questions! I got sucked into blogland during my pregnancy too. It was so helpful to me to read about other women who ran through pregnancy. I felt encouraged. Now I have a handful of blogs, including my siblings', that I check every day or two. I'll admit that sometimes I have to take a step back - kind of like a break from t.v. or something. Be less virtual for a while.
ReplyDeleteWhile my family and friends may keep up with me through my blog, I can appreciate the idea of being an anonymous blogger too. I have a few good in-law stories I'm too chicken to post for fear they'll actually check my blog one day.
Hey, I'm gonna keep thinking about your post. It might prompt one of my own. I'll let you know.
few of my real friends/fam know i blog. sometimes i WISH i hadn't told my husband. for me i think it's about expressing everything without any judgment from people who know me. it's safe.
ReplyDeleteah... there are definitely days when I wish I had an anonymous blog... but I would want to tell you guys (my current bloggy friends) but then it wouldn't be anonymous and surely somebody I know would find it. What I can say is that IF my real friends and family didn't check in on my blog sometimes, it would be much more of a personal journey documented with more of my real internal thoughts and feelings... as it is now, I'm required to put up the weekly quota of cute photos of Moana to keep the grandparents happy :), while balancing that out with posts to keep the athletic gals I've become 'friends' with interested as well. I feel like I've found a social network with these blogs and it's a network I enjoy. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd I think that even though we are writing about ourselves, for the most part, many of the people who choose to come read our blogs do so because they can relate... so when you're bathering on about all the stuff you're thinking/doing, it makes others feel more normal because they're doing/thinking the same things. ;)
One more thing... even on days when I don't have anything to post on my own blog, I love reading everyone else's because it's good entertainment. I swear, so much better than reality TV. ;)
ReplyDeleteGood post! I do it to nake connections, get motivated, and sometimes to vent! only me best friend and husband have the address and its unfortunate he found it! It also just gave me a way to connect w/ other runners.
ReplyDeleteNow w/ the baby blog it is just to document everything and share w/ family/friends!
Deep stuff. My blog started because I was getting so many emails and questions about my pregnancy from family and friends that I started a blog to save myself from all of the email writing. Now I find these people email and call me much less because they always know what's going on with me because of the blog.
ReplyDeleteAn added and huge benefit of the blog is that I have connected with a group of women that motivate me and inspire me. I would not know there are a lot of new moms training and balancing a life similar to mine without the blog. I do think there is something narcistic about it. I don't know if I'm super interesting but I obviously think I am interesting enough to have a blog. And it gives me something to think about when I swim. I always come up with my blog posts while I'm swimming.
You gals brought up some great points. I was thinking a lot about this post the past couple of days because I haven't been able to blog/get on-line since I was visiting my parents. I guess I worry that my "virtual" friends are taking up too much of my time and that I am not spending enough time nurturing my "real life" friends. I have to say, though, that I have come to miss reading some of your blogs and think that we have found a special little niche of people who have the same crazy mentality toward exercise and are in the same phase of life. I do, though, think that the virtual world has become an extention of the actual world because of the way that we live our lives. It does seems to be a bit of a self-absorbed past-time. Instead of spending my spare time reading in the evening or while Nathan naps, I often spend it blogging or reading other's posts. Then again, it is just a sign that we are social beings and strive to have connections with others and will find any medium to do it.
ReplyDelete