August 22, 2008

• What kind of blogs do you like to read?

  First and foremost I like to read my own blog. I narcissistically reread it over and over again and I often think thoughts like “Damn I’m good.” and “Why doesn’t everybody else write like me?” ^_^

  I kid of course. I usually avoid rereading my own stuff like the plague actually I don’t even like proofreading.  I’d rather leave all the spelling and grammar mistakes as is for all time.

  What blogs I DO read are mostly those of friends. Why? Because they are friends. Mostly.  And as far as I can tell they have virtually nothing in common besides the fact that they were written by people I arbitrarily determined that I would label with the word “friend”.

  What I like to see in a blog is something even more vague. I find I can enjoy humorous blogs, political blogs, crusading blogs, slice of life blogs, story and poetry blogs, game creation blogs, rant blogs, angst blogs, relationship blogs, emo blogs, travel blogs, photo blogs, sarcastic blogs, news blogs, review blogs, childish blogs, contest blogs, philosophical blogs, cutesy blogs, religious blogs, video blogs, musical blogs, technological blogs, esoteric blogs, astronomical blogs, and really all manner of blogs imaginable presuming they share one characteristic:

  Authenticity

  I don’t mean that the blogger needs be telling the truth. I’ve read blogs where I’ve suspected 90% of what was being written was false. I just got that feeling. But I still enjoyed them because there was something authentic about them anyway. It’s like, hidden deep within those words and oh so obvious lies is who the person who wrote the blog REALLY is. The blog reflects who they are. As one of my friends told me: “Words are you on paper”. That’s what I like to read too, words that really are a person on paper. I want to read blogs that let me learn who someone is. What makes them tick.

  In contrast some blogs I just can’t get into. Even though the writer may well be completely honest, and very skilled, and quite funny, it doesn’t feel like what they are writing is who they really are or in any way reflects them. Sometimes I just get this sense that they are playing to the crowd so to speak. Their blog doesn’t have any of themselves in them, it’s just what they think or perhaps know full well others want to read. It doesn’t feel real.

  Still other blogs aren’t really playing to anyone, but they just feel empty to me… It’s as if the writer guards every aspect of their real thoughts and feelings to the point that I wonder why they bother to blog at all? All they are writing is just empty words.

  This by the way is sort of why my blog doesnt’ have any kind of a focus whatsoever. At one point I considered focusing on something. Like make this blog entirely philosophical or political and write another blog that might be all about anime and another blog with personal journals and so on. But besides the fact that I don’t have the time to do that, in the end I also decided that I really don’t particularly LIKE focus. I’d rather my blog represent *me*. And I’m a lot more than my philosophical opinions or my journals or any one component. All these things are a part of who I am so I include all of these things in my blog. And I try not to hide any part too just because it might happen to be offensive or not be particularly entertaining to the readership. I want whatever readers I do have to be able to, if they squint hard enough, catch a glimpse of who I really am by reading between the lines of my chaotic unfocused unorganized incomprehensible blog. That’s how I write.  But I’m still far from really “authentic” in my blog. I tend to be a litle too analytical on the surface and that disguises some aspects of who I am underneathe. It’s a thing I’m still trying to learn to get better and better at.

  But you know, even inauthentic blogs I still don’t mind reading. Every once in a while they are even interesting. It’s just that I *love* the authentic blogs. I love feeling like I’m meeting and getting to know someone absolutely fascinating while reading their blog.  People are amazing. And blogging is an amazing way to get to really know them.

  However, there is a type of blog that I decidedly DON’T like to read. A kind that I avoid with the plague. That is, overly Judgmental blogs. What do I mean by that? I’m not entirely sure but I know it when I see it. I just hate reading it. When people paint a group of people in a certain light and proclaim them stupid or silly or rant about how much they dislike them and how they should change or some such nonsense *it bothers me*. It bothers me a lot. They are welcome to judge all they want, but I just don’t want or intend to read it.

  And the funny thing is, I think even most of the blogs I’ve read, even the ones I love, every once in a while post a very judgmental entry. And I hate it. I dare say I’ve probably done so myself a time or two (though I can’t recall an instance), and if I have, I hate that too. Most people don’t even recognize when they are being judgmental, especially if the thing they are judging people about is considered commonly socially unacceptable. But to me that’s the most annoying kind of judgment, because it’s so very *safe*. You take no risk from judging someone badly for smelling bad to take an arbitrary example. Most will nod their heads in agreement. I’m probably the only one who would get annoyed with you for writing a blog like that.  Heck, I find the blogs that judge people on a controversial issue to be more palatable.  I’d rather read about your bias against someone on account of their skin color than your bias against someone because their clothes are wrinkled. Both I hate, but the former is at least *interesting*, you know?

  And really, all of that just shows I’m kinda like the most judgmental person in the world, because the people I judge the harshest are all the judgmental people out there including you and I, and I find us all lacking…

  I just answered this Featured Question; you can answer it too!

  • 6:38 am
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