either you see it or you don't

Do you blog?

Duh. Is this the 21st century? Seems like everyone blogs, but no one wants to admit it. Or admit they enjoy reading weblogs.

I participate in a message board / chat room, where I posed this question a few days ago. The responses were relatively negative and derogatory. Like blogging was the worst crime a person could commit. Ironic, given the subject of about 90% of the threads posted on that message board.

A few of the responses to my posted question (Do you blog?):

“Nobody cares what you had for breakfast.”
“Some idiot blogged about cheating on his girlfriend …”
“I have little interest in posting my life online and I'm sure there'd be less interest in anyone wanting to read it. I do however have a few hi-lites each year that might be kinda interesting.”
“I don’t blog. Weblogging is pretentious. right along with taking pictures. TRY TO REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED. GEEZ!”
“Hell no. I don't want to read drivel by some dolt about what he did last night. Nor do I want to be a dolt writing drivel.”
“Online journals are stupid.”
“Journals are supposed to be personal. There was someone on a social site that I use that had an online journal. She posted about people she hated and all the drama that came about. It does no use to put that so anyone can read it.”
“Whatever happened to paper and pen?” (this from a person who was reading an online message board and responded via the internet – and I’m wondering when was the last time HE wrote a letter, or a newspaper editorial, or a novel, or a journal with pen and paper)

To the guy that responded with “try to remember what happened”. Think what the world would be like without cameras. Film. Digital. TV. Movies. Videos. Are some of them bad? Yes. Does that mean we should ban them? Uh, that was a rhetorical question – the answer is obvious.

Admittedly, many people use a weblog to throw up on the world. Or to whine about how irritated they are by someone they don’t have the nerve to confront. Or to confess deep dark activities or hatred. Hey, it’s cheaper than therapy.

SO, the consensus was, no one wants to know what YOU are thinking. OK, so don’t read it. But don’t say it has no value.

Almost any activity is viewed as pointless to someone who is uninterested in it. Scrapbooking for instance. I’m too busy living my life to spend countless hours taking pictures of every detail, and then spend more countless hours arranging and clipping, and pasting, to sit on a shelf getting dusty and brittle with age, and ultimately be tossed in the trash by my children or grandchildren. Another example? Sports. Hey, if you want to play games, go, play. But why should I have to pay to watch? Sports support a whole segment of society – from the “athletes” themselves, to the sportscasters and even the gambling industry. People who would probably be on welfare, but for sports. Seriously, wouldn’t they be doing something else if they could? Yet whole channels on the television are devoted to game-playing.

Blogging is one of those great misunderstood concepts. And if you need to explain to someone WHY you journal online – well … it can’t be explained. It’s like describing a color. Either you see it or you don’t.

Blog on, fellow bloggers.

=)