I was driving somewhere in the car last weekend and :blush: I caught myself thinking about my blog and getting a little glow of satisfaction from the idea of people reading my most recent posting. Whatever it was, I must have thought it was pretty good! And that reflexive thought was, I must admit, a little bit uncomfortable. Boiling it down it’s blogging as SHOWING OFF - and, of course, my socio-cultural upbringing always makes me wary of showing off - and it does rather reduce being a blogger.
Sometimes though, when I read blogs, I get the sense that others are showing off, or to shift the idea, they are parading or promenading - displaying what they see as the interesting bits of their lives. And of course they really are interesting (sometimes). But also the more casual, throwaway postings capture my interest too. A blogger is having fun; a normally quite intense commentator leaks some ‘personal’ information or expresses an opinion with uncharacteristic vigour or a jokey blog suddenly gets serious. Even the trivial stuff - S blogs there’s snow in New York when it’s spring here, or A blogs spring flowers in Sydney when it’s autumn here - can turn out to be interesting.
So what am I really getting at? I suppose I’m underscoring the power of the reader (both the commentator and the passive consumer or blurker). The blog environment gives the reader plenty of freedom. OK, so the writer may glow with pride, thinking of her latest posting, but the reader may move quickly, perhaps dismissively through her links or even spend a desultory few seconds misinterpreting what’s there or even doing something else at the same time. But who, I wonder, spends the longest time reading my blog? Well I’m pretty sure it’s me. I love my blog and I like the way I say that stuff! It’s my space, and I like writing it and I’m now quite at ease with that fleeting thought that it’s vanity blogging. So, as a writer, I have the power and I’m in control at least for 10 or 15 minutes a day.
