Bloggable lives
over lunch, my husband asked me, "do you think people intentionally go out of their way to make their lives bloggable?"
without hesitation, i said yes (i believe i even rolled my eyes as i did so)--you can just look at all the material out there in cyberspace. people are making mountains out of molehills of their boring everyday lives. (saw one blog written by this woman who plays up to this image of a playgirl. she boasts about all the dates she gets and complains why it seems she can never get a man to seriously commit to her. she never mentions though--or conveniently leaves out--the crucial detail how she gets her dates, --thru a chatroom, blind date, sms? and whether at all she ever gets a call after her dates, or a second date with any of them. duh?)
in cyberspace, you can be anything! you can manipulate words in your blog so that you can reinvent yourself. you can make your life seem fantastic. it just reqires a certain 'tude. it has to be full
of 'tude. because ordinary is not bloggable.
but apparently, i didn't understand his question. "but that's pathetic!" he says. turns out, that what he meant by his question was, if people really did outrageous things just to be able to write about it in their blogs. i said of course not, bloggers unhesitatingly embellish, to make their lives interesting--or shocking, as they desire--to their readers. why do people keep journals, in the first place? isn't it because they're hoping on the off chance that somebody will pick it up accidentally and read (and in some cases, even publish) it? sadly, i've come across a lot of blogs that are what i would call literary masturbation or "pagdadyakol" (my hubby winces at this and offers s.s. instead, from "salsal" or what they call hack writing).
people write blogs because they want to be read. period.
the discussion about bloggable lives all started because i told A that i have so much material for my blogs (i have 3 active ones, plus a photoblog), out of the 5 hours i spent in the hospital this morning. i thought they must be good for something.
well, let's see.
without hesitation, i said yes (i believe i even rolled my eyes as i did so)--you can just look at all the material out there in cyberspace. people are making mountains out of molehills of their boring everyday lives. (saw one blog written by this woman who plays up to this image of a playgirl. she boasts about all the dates she gets and complains why it seems she can never get a man to seriously commit to her. she never mentions though--or conveniently leaves out--the crucial detail how she gets her dates, --thru a chatroom, blind date, sms? and whether at all she ever gets a call after her dates, or a second date with any of them. duh?)
in cyberspace, you can be anything! you can manipulate words in your blog so that you can reinvent yourself. you can make your life seem fantastic. it just reqires a certain 'tude. it has to be full
of 'tude. because ordinary is not bloggable.
but apparently, i didn't understand his question. "but that's pathetic!" he says. turns out, that what he meant by his question was, if people really did outrageous things just to be able to write about it in their blogs. i said of course not, bloggers unhesitatingly embellish, to make their lives interesting--or shocking, as they desire--to their readers. why do people keep journals, in the first place? isn't it because they're hoping on the off chance that somebody will pick it up accidentally and read (and in some cases, even publish) it? sadly, i've come across a lot of blogs that are what i would call literary masturbation or "pagdadyakol" (my hubby winces at this and offers s.s. instead, from "salsal" or what they call hack writing).
people write blogs because they want to be read. period.
the discussion about bloggable lives all started because i told A that i have so much material for my blogs (i have 3 active ones, plus a photoblog), out of the 5 hours i spent in the hospital this morning. i thought they must be good for something.
well, let's see.
posted by may at 5:05 PM
13 Comments:
hi may, people blog because they want to be read and noticed. blogging is another way of saying, "dear world, here i am. look at me please!". we are in the age of voyeurism: we allow the world to peek into our lives no matter how embellished or outrageous it is, as we are allowed to be peeping toms in other people's lives/blogs. this is quite a new and interesting phenomenon, especially for me. i started blogging in august 2004 as a way for me to be "found" by someone. i did it not only for expulsion, but with the hope that maybe, just maybe that certain will find me again and stumble upon my blog. in addition, blogging for me offered an opportunity for me to say what i want (to people), without directly telling them.
yes, thanks for pointing that out, marie. i also blog for an altogether different set of reasons (my way of keeping in touch with my friends-- i find it more intimate than the usual 'hi' 'hello' you throw each other's way in emails), and i posted this even before i could gather all my thoughts and add that in (i never make drafts, you see--i post as i finish composing, then edit some things here and there later). admittedly this is so not yet finished--if you notice, it was largely a reaction to A's question. and now on hindsight, it does seem such a narrow-minded (and disparaging) view of blogging, as i did not even defend myself as an avowed, avid blogger. i find blogging a release. it is cathartic, and rather than drive my loved ones up the wall with my rants and raves, i vent my thoughts on my blogs.
hi again, further to what i wrote and concurring with you on the idea that it is a good way of getting in touch with friends, i would like to add that blogging (also in addition to cyber-voyeurism) is very efficient and in keeping with the electronic age of commercialism and mass production. (was that the longest sentence or was that the longest sentence? haha.) ... blogging saves us time from personal letters, e-mailing to different persons at a time, etc. our friends can just log in and "see" what's going on in our lives. they can comment if they wish, etc. this in effect replaces the art of (real) conversations. gosh, i think i am scaring myself here, feeling that i have entered the utopian world of bloggin. :D ... and, NO, i wasn't mad. i was just being candid with my opinion (???).
i'm so relieved :)
>they can comment if they wish, etc. >this in effect replaces the art of >(real) conversations.
we are such a global community now. we can keep in touch with our friends across the globe as easily and as effectively as if we'd bumped into them at the grocery store, through blogs.
yes, yes, and yes!
hi may! i think i wrote in my very first entry that i started blogging because i believe that i have something to say. comments from others somehow validate your opinions or feelings, or just give birth to discussions like these (no violent reactions so far). when people regularly read and comment on each others' blogs, they become a community, bonded on the deeper level of emotion - something that doesn't happen much in our day-to-day office interactions.
it's also a therapeutic way to express yourself when you're in advertising and don't have a therapy account - haha!
on top of it all, i think that we blog because we love ourselves. and i say, spread the luuv ;)
and, sandygirl, it's a great way to practice your writing! your wonderful blog entries on miguel read like storybooks!
;D
hi may! this is an interesting entry. i think blogging is not only for self indulgence and self validation. like what you said, it's a venue where one can improve his/her writing. other than these reasons, blogging or blogs have many uses. Teacher Sol uses a blog to publicize the works of her students. when the phil. computer society was planning the digital pinay contest in 2003, pinay bloggers went on "blogging bombing" to foil the launching. this was done because the contest obviously was just another "beauty pageant" kind and, according to some posts, contains a bias against women, pinays in particular. it was followed by the Yan Ang Pinay movement to celebarte pinays in cyberspace and their contributions to humanity be it big or small in nature.
dean alfar, who has 5 palancas to his name, educates, promotes and reaches out to bloggers and blog readers through writing graphic novels, speculative fiction and eloquent essays. blogs can also be put up by groups of people to advocate a cause or build an online community bound by the same beliefs and philisophies.
as a librarian, i keep a professional blog to promote my profession, children's literature, reading and IT integration and library services for children. our school library also has a blog to bridge information gaps in our community. we also believe that through blogging, teachers who are still afraid to use technology in education will discover that it is a medium that empowers.
the blogosphere is made up of simple people (there are popular ones too) living not so extraordinary lives. but blogging has become a form of independent press where one's opinion can affect that of another.
isn't this fascinating?
hi z,
thanks! i never thought my entry could spark such a lively discussion. to think it all just started from a conversation with my husband (who i suspect has a blog somewhere, but won't admit it) who claims to be clueless as to why people blog, and what they find bloggable. and i agree with you when you say it's like an independent press--we all get to be opinion editors, and i think, somehow, that is crucial to these times where we need to develop more tolerance of each other's beliefs, principles, convictions, and even personal quirks, haha.
i find it fascinating though that when things are livelier in real life -- when things DO happen to me -- i don't blog about it. in fact, i don't go online. i only blog when i am most alone.
wow, spy--thanks for dropping by (there's a rhyme!) and sharing your thoughts on blogging.
Aside from your blog, I like to read travel blogs. Travel blogs transport you to places you've never been to. Plus you also get a lot of tips. Here's a good one that's been highly recommended among others, by Lonely Planet and Rick Steves. They're travelogue gurus in my book. I especially like his trek to Nepal's Mt. Everest in Oct. 2004. Fascinating!...read on..
http://tblogs.bootsnall.com/theglobaltrip/
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