Listening to Friends
CBMUSED at 10:01 am Category: LifeTags: blogging, friends, offline, online
Sorry for my lack of blogging and commenting of late. I never realized how committed one must be to keep a blog going.
Back in the days when I kept a diary, it was much simpler. Granted not as much fun and interactive but it seemed to take less of my time. Maybe I didn’t worry about grammar and typos back then. But a couple of my friends read this blog, so I have to make an impression now.
In fact, my best friend gave me a bit of advice when she read my blog: Link more (easy). Write shorter blogs (ahem…). Ask more questions. Write a confession. Put something up every day for a week (omigod). Do a Q&A. Vent your spleen. Use ‘fuck’ in a blog (just did…). Etc… Of course, she doesn’t have a blog and she doesn’t even comment here. Hello… Hello… is there anyone out there? was aimed right at you (how’s that for linking).
Truth is, I don’t spend much time online. Does that make me a bad person? After going through some changes, now that I’ve settled in the new house and did some redecorating, made friends with a couple of my neighbors, took up Pilates and joined a book club, time just slips away. And when it gets too much, I’m reminded that life is to be enjoyed to the fullest, and occasionally fun to see it through the eyes of a two year old; it puts it all into perspective.
What says you? Do you spend much time online ahead of living your life?
January 20th, 2008 at 10:48 am
Hmmm… I guess I will always be an online apologist. Most of my working day is spent online and of course, the things I should be doing are peppered with the things I’d rather be doing.
I tend to go for days without seeing a single blog, then feel overcome with the desire to catch up on several - but I don’t ever feel like it’s a burden.
I see blogs with 100’s of comments and the people that run them obviuosly have reciprocated - but I could never get close to that level of commitment. There’s too much offline stuff to get done!
January 20th, 2008 at 10:57 am
I’m trying to spend less time online, but the boring desk job remains.
Life happens offline. Online you share the offline stuff. Share is the key word. Online stuff should be dictate your agenda or define who you are.
January 20th, 2008 at 11:00 am
Wow, snaps to you for covering pretty much everything your friend suggested, all in one go… links, swearing, questions, confession… (I’ve lost track myself to be honest). But I think I disagree on one point - why make them shorter? Sometimes short is good, but depends on the subject matter, on your mood and so on.
As to your Q, I agree completely with GB: “the things I should be doing are peppered with the things I’d rather be doing.” - blogs are a great way to procrastinate between writing paragraphs, but I don’t often chose to be online over spending time with friends or reading etc
January 20th, 2008 at 5:13 pm
GB: I relate to the should-be and rather-be-doing. But if your work is online, I’d be tempted as well
I can’t imagine what it would be like to have a popular blog, or run one. And if that means reciprocating comments et, it sounds overwhleming. A small blog feels nice, like an intimate conversation with friends.
Egan: unlike me, you must be able to blog from work at will. I can’t say the same for me.
Online is as real as offline, and I understand about the sharing aspects. I guess it depends on how much we’re comfortable telling the world… and in my case, without making them yawn.
Felix: I had to at least give her ideas a try, why not in one post? Like you, I’m divided on the length of a post. If it needs more words, an abridged version reads wrong. But I understand people these days don’t have time. Not sure I’d be going the condensed route very soon.
As a procrastination tool, it’s fabulous. Follow a link here and there and end up somewhere new that you forget where you even started. Or is that just me…
January 20th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
I do spend too much time online, but I don’t know if it’s ahead of living my life - I still do martial arts, go to the gym, hang out with friends etc - internet time is just my in between time and I don’t really want any more hobbies!
January 20th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
I’d advise to write what pleases you, not what you think people want. If time is a problem, just have more days between each post. But get into the habit of writing regularly, so you readers know there will be a new post after x days.
January 20th, 2008 at 9:12 pm
Enny: that sounds to me like a balance between the two. I don’t know how you fit it in :).
G Bananas: good advice about the regularity of postings. I’m not sure I can do it daily and maintain a level of posting that doesn’t make me cringe.
January 21st, 2008 at 4:58 am
I probably spend more time online than I care to admit. Does reading the news online make the time spent any more productive?
Nice space you have here
January 21st, 2008 at 8:31 am
Nicholas: reading the news online is considered ‘educational’, no?
Thank you and welcome!
January 21st, 2008 at 2:08 pm
A blog does take work!
Posting for a week? Pfft! I did it for a MONTH! So bloody hard.
Oh and I always swear on my blog. It’s very cleansing I find.
Your blog should be a place that will always be here that you can come to when you please. Don’t feel obligated to update it! I’m trying to do that as well … the reader’s make it so much better, but ultimately the blog is for me.
January 21st, 2008 at 5:32 pm
Airam: and I’m learning!
You posted for a month?! You should get a medal!
I find comments are the best motivators to continue :).
January 22nd, 2008 at 7:11 pm
hm, yes and no. I go through stages where I spend a hell of a lot of time online and then I go through stages of hardly checking emails or anything like that. I guess, I’m moody. lol.
January 22nd, 2008 at 9:14 pm
M: I understand. It’s like a rush then… meh, or everything seems bland. I may be moody too!
January 23rd, 2008 at 4:26 am
Ha. Your last question? I can honestly tell you that I did. For months. And it almost ruined the most important relationship in my life. Not to mention all the life I wasn’t living. Now I’m doing all the things I kept saying I wanted to do when I was online all the time.
January 23rd, 2008 at 8:22 am
Armalicious: I’m so pleased for you. I know how some things can become consuming, and if that happens at a price, it’s not worth it.
Glad you’re doing all the things you want. That’s what I’m also aiming for in my life (not that it’s related to my limited time online).