Are Bloggers Transparent?
from 
JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
A friend who read my blog said that the writings in my blog made me transparent, and this was a risky thing. I had to laugh and say that was an illusion. There are so many things left out of my blog, and what I put in is so selective, surely that can’t be true. Can it?
What gets put in a blog?
1. We write to cope with unresolved feelings and conflicts – to ventilate. I moan and groan about my misfortunes, especially my seriously lacking love life.
2. We write to share excitement about something that is grand and wonderful. I celebrate my daughter and the other glories that I have in my life.
3. We write to explore options, to break down problems, analyze and resolve them. Or, maybe to get another person’s perspective. (Not me, I’m to stubborn to ask for help, but I have seen others do it.)
4. We write to get in someone else’s face and challenge others. This varies from flaming, to challenging racism, to challenging authority or a societally ingrained perspective.
Generally, I think we TEND to write about what troubles us. Therefore, blogs tend to be more negative than the bloggers who wrote them.
What gets left out of a blog?
1. We won’t write about the things that are TOO secret, TOO embarrassing to share, even sheltered by the mantle of pseudo-anonymity. Sometimes we skirt all around the topic, or we stay miles away. Some things you just never tell.
2. I don’t write about certain developing social opportunities, both because of silly superstitious fears about jinxing the situation, and because they might just read this blog (which could really jinx it!).
3. We don’t write about the things we do. For example, someone who jogs every day for 30 minutes probably won’t write about that, usually. They just DO it…
4. We don’t write much about the times that we are rushing through our life being particularly busy or happy. These times only get written about in retrospect, in an abbrieviated version, if they get written at all.
What gets left out of a blog tends to be the things we were too bored with, to busy to record, to fearful of, or are such a part of our life that we really don't think about them much anymore.
I think maybe bloggers are transparent in the same way as a stained glass window into an unlit church. You can peek in to the murky darkness through little colored openings. And all you can see is what shows from your own perspective.
What gets put in a blog?
1. We write to cope with unresolved feelings and conflicts – to ventilate. I moan and groan about my misfortunes, especially my seriously lacking love life.
2. We write to share excitement about something that is grand and wonderful. I celebrate my daughter and the other glories that I have in my life.
3. We write to explore options, to break down problems, analyze and resolve them. Or, maybe to get another person’s perspective. (Not me, I’m to stubborn to ask for help, but I have seen others do it.)
4. We write to get in someone else’s face and challenge others. This varies from flaming, to challenging racism, to challenging authority or a societally ingrained perspective.
Generally, I think we TEND to write about what troubles us. Therefore, blogs tend to be more negative than the bloggers who wrote them.
What gets left out of a blog?
1. We won’t write about the things that are TOO secret, TOO embarrassing to share, even sheltered by the mantle of pseudo-anonymity. Sometimes we skirt all around the topic, or we stay miles away. Some things you just never tell.
2. I don’t write about certain developing social opportunities, both because of silly superstitious fears about jinxing the situation, and because they might just read this blog (which could really jinx it!).
3. We don’t write about the things we do. For example, someone who jogs every day for 30 minutes probably won’t write about that, usually. They just DO it…
4. We don’t write much about the times that we are rushing through our life being particularly busy or happy. These times only get written about in retrospect, in an abbrieviated version, if they get written at all.
What gets left out of a blog tends to be the things we were too bored with, to busy to record, to fearful of, or are such a part of our life that we really don't think about them much anymore.
I think maybe bloggers are transparent in the same way as a stained glass window into an unlit church. You can peek in to the murky darkness through little colored openings. And all you can see is what shows from your own perspective.