Displaying the Idea

The idea behind this exploration about blogs and blogging is communication, some good, some perhaps not so good. Sometimes a blog can be informative and interesting, especially if the reader already has an interest in the topic. Such is the case with CrackledApples, a blog about newly discovered information about gourds and new things to do with a gourd. Some blogs become blatherings of people who probably need to see a therapist and the blog is a venting tool. However, there is value in that too -- where feelings are vented and maybe even come full circle to OKness again.

All blogs about nothing, are really about something. So, even when a reader expects blah, blah, blah, the nothingness actually become something. The idea intended for nothingness grows into interesting-ness.

Every time.

Would that be true for any reader, or just for people who like to read?

Blogger Demographics

As it turns out, there IS a source for Blogger demographics, Sysomos. However, the website shows some demographic information as of June 2010, but not a total number of blogs. From the previous information found about blog statistics, we saw that a LOT has happened in the world of blogs since 2010.

Having said that, in 2010 Blogger's demographic was almost 1/2-1/2 male-female, unlike the other blog sites that reported a mostly male gender distribution.

Number of Blogs

When the question was asked "How many blogs ARE there?", I was expecting to find something. However I did not expect to find the incredible amount of data that has been collected and analyzed about the topic! Technorati has done what I could only imagine in its State of the Blogosphere 2010. At that time, there were 275,000 new posts made every day. When the Worldometer Blogging Statistics page is visited today, the rolling counter would suggest there are 1,000 new posts per 18 seconds (roughly timed with an iPhone stopwatch app). That would be about 4,800,000 new posts every day (roughly)...a whopping 1,645% increase in the last 5 years!

In 2010, most bloggists were hobbyists, 2/3 are male, and professionals tend to have 3.2 blogs. [3.2?...like they started one and did not make to the first post? No, I know that is an average..I am toying with my readers!]  These reflect my experience to some degree -- I am a hobbyist of sorts, am professional, not a male but I have 11 blogs. Some blogs I actively touch every day, some are more reflective and get my attention once or twice a quarter, depending on my experiences and research. [I must be part of the .2 blog average!]

Eric Pangburn reports the numbers of blogs on the various blogging websites - Tumblr, WordPress, LiveJournal, Weebly, and Blogster. He says he cannot find definitive numbers for Blogger -- my favorite blogging tool for home and school. Mr. Pangburn makes a point when he states the numbers are misleading because they grow every day. The number of blogs is dynamic!

Falling in Love

Sonia Simone wrote an article for CopyBlogger, a marketing company, called 7 Tips for Falling in Love with Your Blog All Over Again. Her opening quote is a couple lines from the Righteous Brothers song, You've Lost That Loving Feeling, which makes the point that after a while a blog loses its allure, its pizzazz, its limit for value. Or does it? Some blogs I have get shelved for a while I think about other things, but then inspiration will hit me and off we go.

Ms. Simone's suggestions number seven and begin with learning. She states the brain cannot absorb information all at once, but needs time for digesting news. That must be what I do.

Other suggestions for maintaining that loving feeling are:
- offer a Q&A session where you get questions you may not have thought about, and can consider
- make some connections by reading others' blogs and linking back and forth to interesting information
- present your core values (not blahblahblah sugary things, but deeply held reflections)
- use your strengths (mind tend to include music, and humor, so one of my blogs now has parodies I have written about that particular blog's topic -- it really jazzed me up and got me charged to renew the efforts!)
- "find a coach" must be something like getting a personal trainer -- locate a blogger who is doing a good job at what you want to do and ask for advice
- step away on occasion to recharge the batteries; that's what I guess I do because when I return to the blog in question I have new ideas and new perspectives....it's fun again!

Now I wonder, given permission to step away before coming at a blog again, how many blogs can one person maintain?  How much information can be disseminated from one brain?!

Keep Blogging my dear Blogsters!

On the Other Side of the Coin...

On the other side of the coin, is the blogger who gets to feeling chained to a blog eventually resenting the existence of it once the initial purpose is over and evolution time set in?  It takes time to evolve and reflect and produce meaningful posts. Luckily, there is Blogging Without Obligation! Yes, by golly, a person should not have to be chained to a blog unless it is a class assignment or some other duty tied to grades or income

I suspect there should be rights from the other side too -- a reader should not be expected to keep up with someone else's blog information and then refer to it when the blogger and reader meet face to face. The pressure is too great! [or should I say the guilt is too great?]

Blogs as Postcards?

Blogs, like diaries, can be used to document a path or process. When a retired couple sets off for traveling adventures, a blog can be the day-to-day tool they use to document places they see and things they do. A recent postcard arrived at my house this week from such a couple. They are retired as of April and plan to travel to exotic places for several years, dropping by the United States as time permits.

The postcard announces their Blogger url and an invitation to keep up with their exciting life of leisure. Does this obligate me to 'check out their blog' like an extra chore so I can answer questions at some point?  Yikes!

 Rachael Greenberg

No matter how this is dressed up, it smacks of obligation without the social solace of personal conversation. Where is the retirement party? Will there be postcards I can hang on my refrigerator that make me think of them at odd times of the day?

I have many blogs, but they are my reflections thrown out in to the world for others to enjoy, or not, it does not matter. I get my release sharing my thoughts whether others read or not.

The image is a wall corner of postcards. Could postcards have been the original blog of someone's journeys? I'd much rather have the postcard in my mailbox than have to commit more time to reading online.

Display Names - Personal or Informative?

Continuing on the previous post regarding display names, how many authors use pseudonyms, or ghost names, when writing novels? Melissa Breyer lists 8 famous authors that chose an alias (also called a pseudonym, a ghost name, nicknames, working names, or even a nom de plume). In fact, she mentions Benjamin Franklin in her list -- as MRS. Silence Dogwood, and gives an example of the spicy, saucy writing he was doing under that name. Several writers have used more than one alias which might explain why people who have many blogs can have a different display names for each.

A Writer's Digest blog, many reasons are given for an author to use another name: to reborn a career after a poor-selling book, to cross book genres without preconceived notions from the public about a new book, when shopping around for a new publisher without worrying about the legal hassles of already being under contract with another publisher OR as stated in another article, to avoid the gender game where men are given more credibility than women especially in the early 20th century.

There is a lot to think about when writing!

What's In a Name?

Display Names

Display names are the self-chosen words to identify one's self as the blog author. The Muffin Man is the moniker for a blogger exploring allergies in relation to food. It was chosen because it refers to the topic because it includes gluten and for the sound of as it is spoken. [Could the song have anything to do with it?]

Kitchen Guy is writing a blog about kitchen appliances, so his display name was another natural fit especially because all the appliances he is investigating are within the realm of kitchens.

Penelope Trunk says to forego the anonymous display name. She lists several reasons for using a real name, a couple having to do with career and networking. Why should a person be ashamed of what is being written...unless they should **gasp!**  In the case of the above bloggers, students using technology to journal the the process of their research should stand behind a false front, if only to have the freedom to explore, make mistakes, and become tech savvy. They are being guided and will eventually delete their blogs as tools of growth. In the meantime, they are learning within the school's domain.

Building Confidence
Photo: Copyright 2016 by Photobucket

In  an article from the Sweetland Center for Writing at the University of Michigan, blogging not only improves writing skills but encourages writing confidence among youngsters. Blogs also helps students develop a sense of audience and ownership. Eventually the body of knowledge that accumulates shows the work in progress and the path work took from point A to the final destination.

Silence Dogwood's Blog

Mills, Charles E., artist.
"Benjamin Franklin, editor and writer."
Between 1909 and 1920.
Prints and Photographs Division
of the Library of Congress.

I wonder what would Benjamin Frankly have thought about 'blogging'? He was a pretty wordy guy, writing his explanations about experiments and writing stories. However, he did not always know how to write. It is interesting Benjamin used a pseudonym, Silence Dogwood, much like bloggers use a display name. In that respect, if he were blogging today, he would have a display name! Display names are how writers can put information out into a public forum yet still maintain a margin of privacy, for whatever reason. Benjamin Franklin's reason may have been to get published and since his brother was the local newspaper printer, he may have wanted his writings to be considered without prejudice. Ben could have produced, and edited, many writings in a blog without his brother knowing he was the author.

Do bloggers want their work to be considered without prejudice or is it more a matter of wanting to present points of view without what, comment?  Yet, commenting is allowed, right? What would it matter if someone's name is made visible?

Diaries vs. Blogs

In Blogging versus Keeping a Diary, Vincent Mars puts the diary in clear terms:

"Traditional diaries are selfish. And they can be limiting, just as first-person narratives. With a blog, however, you always know that there is at least one other person reading your entry, and that makes you chose your words with care, and consider carefully the things you want to talk about. You will think twice before sharing anything with the world, and this is a protection against trivial entries, which abound in most diaries."

Perhaps by "trivial entries", Mr. Mars means to say off-topic or sidebar comments. Certainly historic diaries have entries not necessarily pertinent to the overall time periods, but those bits and pieces offer value to the reading for the human connection they present to current times. Events may change, but the human condition remains the same? 

Documenting Life

In the article Blogging vs. Journaling, Diana Raab explains journaling is a collection of personal musing, a scrapbook of thoughts and meditations. On the surface blogging may appear to be like a journal because of the daily entries but it is more universal. In fact, the author says "Writing a blog is not a place to boast or brag, but rather a place to show and tell in a way that will resonate with readers. Successful blogs teach readers something and can possibly make a difference in their lives."

Two triangles of rock balanced 
against a middle stone, ying yang, 
blog vs. journaling or diaries. 

There are three ways to document, from current to oldest: blog (web log), journal, and diary. A blog is a public, electronic collection of thoughts that can be communal when others comment. A journal is a more private collection of thoughts and seen individually as the writer wishes. A diary is a chronological recording of events and are often used as historic documents as researchers and family genealogists learn about previous generations. Are blogs replacing diaries? Are historic records being replaced by the internet? Will the future have chronological recordings of day-to-day events to shine a light into our times? MmMmmm...the ying yang of documentation.

Welcome to BloggedlyBlogBlog!

Just type, type, typing away!

This is a blog about blogging! What is the fascination? Why do people blog when they could write a letter? How does blogging bring citizens together in ways beneficial to themselves and to society? These are good questions, and points of view to explore.

Welcome!