The thing about blogging is that there's every chance that once you've been doing it a while you may well end up meeting other bloggers and even get to know the blighters. The upside to this is that you might just make some new friends. The downside is that you now feel like you can't put up a post entitled 'cracking wanks I've had lately'. Which, given the face-achey dose of Nose AIDS I have at the moment, is about as much as I have to offer right now as I think I've already ruminated on the gibbering wonders of Deal or No Deal here.
Tell me, do other bloggers out there let real people read their blogs? Like, people they work with and non-blogging friends and stuff? My sister drops by pretty regularly, as does one of my cousins, but my brother just gave me a look that said "wow, you're far more of a spa than I thought" when he heard I was at this lark. People in work sometimes ask how I met my wife and I tell them it was through blogging. They then ask what the blog's called and I start this little dance of pretending I really don't want to tell them until they've asked a third or fourth time. It's a lot like Peter denying Jesus, really. If i tell them then they lose interest and say "Right, I'll check it out sometime", before realising that some of my posts are an awful lot longer than a Facebook update and that I might just be a little bit weirder than they thought. And then the whole thing never gets mentioned again. One colleague was quite happy to tell me that the whole concept is self-indulgent. It is. The irony was that she somehow felt that the novel she is working on, which will (as is inevitable) contain multiple lengthy fictionalised aspects of herself that she will one day hope to sell to people, isn't.
I dunno, the sooner we accept that we're all just confused souls pouring stuff out into the ether and hoping that one or two other confused souls get it, the better for all. And, furthermore, what does it tell us that Blogger's spell-check doesn't recognise 'bloggers'? 'Floggers', apparently, is fine.
Friday, April 1, 2011
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Real people read my blog, including my folks, sisters, friends, exes, nemeses and relations. I often wish the part of me that screams "look at me! look at me!" would shut the fuck up...
I don't mind real people reading mine but I don't like fake people reading it in case I ever want to write about them.
Yeah I'm happy to share mine but I don't really do personal posts so it's not the same. I have often wished I had a completely anonymous blog though.
I've just realised that addressing a question directly to my readers like that is about the most desperate piece of comment-fishing I could do, short of writing something inflammatory about the blog awards. I'll save that for the next time I'm bored and idealess.
Radge - I had noticed that you sometimes seem to get comments from real people and admired that you still manage to be so honest. I think the only post my dad ever read here was the one about snorting vodka and puking on a table when I was eighteen.
Annie - I just write about them anyway. Though I'm now a little worried that the colleagues I've mentioned here will, in fact, be reading after all and will take offence at this. I doubt it, though. Also, while blurring real life and blogging, thanks for your email. x
John - I know exactly what you mean. A completely anonymous space where you could let rip at absolutely anyone and say whatever you want without guilt would be great. And dangerous, most likely.
I tried the anonymous thing back in 2009, as I think you know - it was found, with less than sexy results.
Which was your anonymous thing Radge?
I missed the memo.
Oh. I was going to say, you CAN have an anonymous blog, John. But maybe you can't?
The problem with blogging is that it normalises oversharing. I don't think that's a bad thing, from my perspective, but it can be to others.
The fact that I know more people reading does change what I put down, perhaps for the better, but sometimes it just feels like there's nowhere to go.
I'll read your wanking post without judgement, so fire away :)
today's wv = comen, would you believe?
Some real people read it but I think they read out of guilt.
That's good enough for me actually
Interesting post Andrew, and kinda sums up why I stopped blogging. I got tired of being anonymous but still feared being too personal. And also found myself being vague and embarassed when friends discovered the blog. So it just didn't all sit right with me for some reason.
Jo - You might be happy to read my muckier outpourings, but i believe you'd be firmly in the minority.
WR - I think people have tried to read mine out of guilt, but rarely get far. There tends to be a very, very low attention span when it comes to reading content online. One person said "Oh, your blog's mainly about literature" because they had seen one of those diary extract posts that I sporadically put up.
NaRocRoc - Well, hello there. Good to know you're still alive. 'vague and embarrassed' is a common sensation, right enough, but I've just about learnt to get over it. Come to think of it, you're the only person to comment on this post who I've never met, so I'm obviously not too uncomfortable with people I know reading my ramblings. Sorry it didn't sit right with you, but there's still an audience out there if you ever decide to come back.
Cheers Andrew, and hello to you to!
I am very anon except for the soon to be husband. I think that I'm afraid the real people would think it's all a bit attention seeking really. I also like having an outlet all on my own away from the norm of every day.
One of my great regrets is that I didn't blog anonymously from the start. I definitely censor the stuff that starts in my brain and ends up on the blank page.
I blame my Irishness. It's the same twisted complex that made me afraid to kiss a boy after my dad died in case he really was looking down on me from heaven.
Voodoolady - Sure, it's a bit attention-seeking, but surely no more than what most people post on Facebook every day. Probably a good deal less.
Anyway, where've you been? It's not like getting married takes that much effort, you just leave it all to the lady. Oh, wait.
Regina - In your case I definitely don't think you should regret your lack of anonymity. You couldn't have written your piece in the Irish Times anonymously, and it was useful that you were able to direct people to the blog. If having a more public face to the blog gets the issue to a wider audience then surely it's a price worth paying? Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, I often am.
tee hee, nobody "real" in my life read my blog (way back when I used to post stuff ;) hehe) and I'm very happy with that. It *was* in fact a place to go ranting about things which I'm too polite to do in person. And I loved it. Don't regret a single post! Thanks for this one Andrew, nice to know what other people's experiences are of this whole blogging business
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