Blog Questions We Ask Ourselves
The title of this post is a bit presumptuous because I am assuming that I am not the only blogger to ask these questions, or maybe I am.
1) If you are an anonymous blogger would the loss of your anonymity stop you from blogging? Golda Leah touched upon this in her post today and many other bloggers have dealt with it.
My own anonymity has been compromised and I simply refuse to stop writing because this is outlet means a lot to me. I am appreciative of the community I have become a part of and happy that I have been given the opportunity to learn.
But there is no doubt that the removal of the veil changes a blogger’s approach. What do you think?
2) Many blogs have regulars, you know they are the commenters that show up on most if not all of the posts. Sometimes those commenters disappear. Do you wonder where they went? Do you wonder if they think that your blog has jumped the shark, if you upset them or if there is some other explanation for why they have forsaken you.
3) Do you ever wonder what the shelf life of your blog is? That is, how long will you be able to keep you going/how long do you want to keep going?
I readily admit to all of these, but I have to say that I my smallest concern is how long I can keep this up. I don’t have a problem coming up with content. The big question is how much of my evening I want to dedicate to this.
If you enjoyed this or are curious to read my other rambling remarks about blogging try reviewing the posts on the blogging drop down menu such as
Blogging for Ego, For Experience, For What
Do you Have Blog Envy?
How Many Blogs Do You Read?
Jack's Shack December 31, 2006 at 12:13 am
Sounds like you have a good attitude about it all.
Mark December 30, 2006 at 11:39 pm
“I don’t play games with those who threaten me, especially my family”
As well you shouldn’t. I made a private, polite appeal to this dipshit to remove the informnation for the protection and courtesy of my family which fell on deaf ears.
It was only by being shamed by others that the information was finally removed.
Blogging has been an incredibly positive experience for me and I have made many great friends. But the odd jerk exists in the “real” world as well, so I don’t sweat it too much.
Jack's Shack December 30, 2006 at 10:13 pm
Sheyna,
Good answers. I have wondered about the crazies which is part of why I haven’t revealed myself.
Sea,
I think that mood has a lot to do with blogging. When I don’t feel well I rarely comment.
Chosha,
When you ended your blog from Japan did you leave it up to read or did you delete it?
Judi,
Will do. 🙂
Misanthrope,
I spend less time blogging than many people realize. I can compose a post on the fly in less time than it takes most people to write.
However, I sometimes wonder if I am compromising speed for quality.
Mark,
I have seen people post such details on many occasions. It is very troubling and rarely do I find myself in complete agreement. However, I will add that I have been threatened a few times. Each time I posted as many personal details about those who threatened me. I don’t play games with those who threaten me, especially my family
Woman,
I have done the same thing on several occasions. Good coffee is important.
Brooke,
Thanks for coming here too. 🙂
Paula,
Inane commentary is a personal favorite, that is why I called this place Random Thoughts. Thanks for the link.
DR,
I think that you are absolutely right about the value of using the blog as a writing tool.
Mist,
IMO blogging is only worthwhile if you are getting something out of it. Life is too short to waste time on something that you don’t enjoy.
Snoopy,
The perfect post? By your standards I must have a bunch of those. 😉
As for comments, well I am nothing compared compared to many other bloggers, check out the woman who fled cleveland. She gets twice as many as I do.
I disappear from people’s blogs, because I sometimes just forget where I’ve been!
I’ll be kind and not remark about senior moments. 😉
cruisin-mom December 30, 2006 at 4:46 pm
If my anonymity was lost, I don’t suppose I would stop blogging. The main reason I remain anonymous is because this is something I’VE chosen to do, NOT my family. But I don’t think I write anything incriminating, or hurtful to anyone, including myself.
I wonder where commenters go. I disappear from people’s blogs, because I sometimes just forget where I’ve been!
Anonymous December 30, 2006 at 4:37 pm
P.S. And, judging by the number of comments on your place and (especially) the prevailing gender of the commenters (you rascal you!) you certainly will not wither for lack of attention.
Anonymous December 30, 2006 at 4:35 pm
There is a difference between visiting and commenting. Sometime I visit bloggers on our blogroll “quietly” for many reasons. For example – a perfect post with nothing to add to, a subject out of what is of interest to me today, just too lazy, …
I imagine all of us know that. But of course, all of us have that hypersensitivity to attention/lack of it.
mist1 December 29, 2006 at 11:20 pm
I’ve been outed before. It was the end of my first blog. Anonymity isn’t as secure as it seems. Sometimes, I wonder why I do it.
I think about the end of my current blog sometimes. It makes me sad, but I know that one day, it will go too.
dorothy rothschild December 29, 2006 at 4:28 pm
1) I’m semi-anonymous on my blog. I write under a “nom de blog”, but people who know me–friends, my husband, my sister–do read it. If I were blogging under my own name, it would definitely have an effect on what I chose to write about and how. I would have to censor myself because of work and also because of certain creative pursuits.
2) I know who’s around and not based on my blog statistics. I don’t always comment on the blogs I regularly frequent because sometimes I am too busy to formulate a coherent response, or I just can’t think of anything to write that would add anything to the conversation. But I do read the people in my list of links, and stop by at least once a day usually. I did have a frequent commenter and reader completely disappear. I’m trying not to take it personally, but I do wonder if I wrote something that made this person angry or offended them in some way.
3) I do wonder how long I will keep going with it in its current format. I will be starting a Web site under my own name soon related to these creativer pursuits I mentioned above. That Web site may have a blog component that would make my current blog superfluous, though friends have advised me to keep the semi-anonymous one going, because they know I will have to censor myself if I blog under my own name.
Sometimes I get tired of my own writing. And sometimes I feel like what I’m doing on my blog is a narcissistic waste of time. But I have to say that it was and continues to be a good starting place for ideas and I truly believe that it has helped my writing, just having that practice of putting together something almost every day.
Anonymous December 29, 2006 at 3:55 pm
1. I am semi-anonymous in that I don’t use my full real name. I also don’t run around announcing that I have a blog, but anyone who has my email address could find it. My kids read it sometimes, and if they think I’m particularly funny (rare!), they might show their friends. With that in mind, I’m careful what I write about family, what I disclose about myself that could impact others, and I NEVER write about work.
2. That doesn’t happen to me cuz I rock. 😉 Seriously, my regulars usually announce when they’ll be gone for an extended time. If one disappeared, I’d be worried–not that I upset them, but that they were ill or something.
3. I never wonder about that. I have loads of inane things to babble about endlessly.
P.S. I’m linking you!
Brooke December 29, 2006 at 2:45 pm
Hi! Thanks for visiting my site!
I wonder a lot about jumping the shark. I hope it doesn’t happen… I guess if I ever introduce new writers, I’ll be there. Heh.
WomanHonorThyself December 29, 2006 at 2:01 pm
OK u can see I havent even had my coffee yet..lol..forgot to even sign in!..yikes..that former comment was me!
Anonymous December 29, 2006 at 1:59 pm
hi there Jack!…thanks for visitin my humble site..please come again..I got to race to work but will return to read some more here!…Have a beautiful Sabbath!!
Mark December 29, 2006 at 12:45 pm
Some months ago I got into a political disagreement with another blogger (Joe of my recent “Piss Like A Big Dog” post). It turned nasty, and he subsequently did a post with my full name and address (HOME address, which he had because we had traded some CD’s), claiming I had given him permission to do so (!?). He was immediately trounced for doing so by several of my loyal blogbuddies, and eventually deleted that info from the post. It was done out of pure animosity and the informatoiion had no bearing on his post whatsoever.
He continues to claim he was justified because my personal info is public knowledge (which it is, but there are surprisingly many people with my exact name).
Back to the point: Prior to that, I had nmy work website linked at my blog and from time to time would fture some of my projects on the blog. Needless to say, i went threough and purged every reference I could find to my business and home as a direct result of that incident.
It has not kept me from blogging (plus we don’t have children – that adds a whole new level of cioncern for some), I will ALWAYS keep others’ information entrusted to me confidential and lesson learned: You need to be careful because you never know who’s out there. But I still don’t keep super anonymous, just no last name anymore.
The Misanthrope December 29, 2006 at 4:04 am
I was originally concerned about the office finding out, most know and don’t care since we don’t write about work — ever. Now, I would say it’s probably for safety that I prefer my true misanthropic identity not be revealed.
I wondered about the time you put in blogging because it is very time consuming, but also very therapeutic.
judi December 29, 2006 at 3:46 am
I asked myself a few of these same questions a few days ago, then made the decision to end one blog and start another.
As far as anonymity- most of my friends and neighbors know who I am. Observations I’ve made have, at least once, turned up in a Shabbos dvar. I don’t mind that people know what I’m thinking about. It gives us something to discuss when we’re together in person.
I hadn’t really had regular commenters on the old blog- even though I’d gotten lots of hits. Don’t know why- don’t really care. Maybe things’ll change on the new site.
I decided to end the old site because I dreaded posting. The premise had gotten old and I had become more cynical and ached to use words and ideas that would’ve been wrong on the old site. The new site allows me to access more of an established, artsy local edge and is far less G-rated. It lets me be more me.
So visit, and for G-d’s sake, leave comments. Please?
chosha December 29, 2006 at 3:24 am
” I don’t have a problem coming up with content.”
You certainly don’t. You’re the most prolific blogger I read. 🙂
Though I’m basically anonymous, from the beginning a few people I know have always read my blog. I like that though. I enjoy some aspects of anonymity, but it isn’t the be all and end all.
I have already ended one blog that I kept when I lived in Japan, so I do sometimes wonder if it’s one day going to seem right to end this one and start anew. I can’t quite imagine not blogging at all, but that could happen.
seawitch December 28, 2006 at 10:26 pm
I’m sorta of anonymous. Sometimes my writing is constrained because my boss knows I blog and comments about some of the stuff I write. But he doesn’t know about the other one I write for!
These past few weeks have been bad health-wise. Though I read many of my dailies, I haven’t felt like commenting. For that matter, I haven’t felt much like blogging.
Sheyna Galyan December 28, 2006 at 9:34 pm
Not being an anonymous blogger (I guess it’s too late to try and pass my name of as a pseudonym), but knowing plenty of anonymous bloggers, there are pros and cons to both sides. It would be hard for me to write about book-writing and book promotion if I was anonymous, unless I also authored books under a pseudonym.
So, I have the freedom to do that sort of sharing and promotion, but I also have to be very careful about what I say and how I say it, especially because there are people who know me IRL who read my blog – a few of whom have blogs themselves.
Lashon hara is always in the back of my mind when I blog. So are the crazies who might decide reading my blog isn’t enough.
At the same time, I can’t imagine dealing with the stresses of being “found out” were I anonymous.
I think I answered your 2nd question elsewhere… or maybe that was someone else who posed the question… at any rate, I figure life got busy for them and that’s why they’re not around. It’s usually why I take blogging breaks.
And #3: when I decide to hang up writing novels, it’ll definitely be time to hang up the blog. Until then, it’s a good way to learn from others and develop my own readership. (And shamelessly plug the next book!)
😉