Wednesday, March 25, 2015

When blogs go bad . . .

And by "bad" I don't mean "rogue," as in one day a blog decides to get rid of her goody-two-shoes image and hang out with John Travolta in the high school parking lot, wearing a leather jacket and smoking cigs.  That would be an interesting thing in the blog-o-sphere.

By bad I mean "flat," as in "I'm just not very interested in this blog anymore."

I say this because I'm thinking of a big-time blog that I haven't always liked but that I've generally admired over the years.  Now, however?  It feels stale.  Dialed in.  Boring, even.

So I've been trying to analyze what's happened, and I've come up with these reasons.

1.  I've changed.  What felt interesting and fresh to me once may still be interesting and fresh to other readers, but because I've taken another turn somewhere along the line, the blog doesn't speak to me now.  This happens.

2.  The blog itself has changed.

Honestly, in this case (you see how I'm being careful here) I think it's #2.  And how has it changed?  It feels . . . inauthentic.  The appeal of the personal blog is that it's open, honest, and yes.  Revealing.  But when that stops happening, the blog suffers.

That's okay.  Sometimes you get to a point where certain things use up most of your mental and emotional oxygen, but you don't feel like you can or should go public with those issues--particulalry when people near and dear to you are involved.  Holding back is a blogger's prerogative.  But it can certainly have an effect on your work.

Just some random thoughts as I prepare a talk on blogging.

8 comments:

Margy said...

So, so curious to know what big-time blog you are talking about. PM me, yes?

Lisa B. said...

Oh, I so hear you on this.

Also, I hope you're not thinking these thoughts, in some analogous way, about your own blog. Because: no. I personally feel that I need your blog, if you can keep at it. Sort of like I need you to keep watching The Good Wife. Please: just do things for me, okay?

CSIowa said...

Speaking for myself, we are all curious.

I need Ann Cannon and Louise Plummer to keep blogging so my soul is not entirely crushed by the fact that I am now an accountant. Is that too much to ask from total strangers? Next time I am in SLC, I should pop in to TKE and say hello. Then it can be too much to ask of the briefest acquaintance. Or just do it for Lisa B.

Donna Tagliaferri said...

I also need your blog...you are so far away that I almost feel like I have dropped by to look at a new bud or have a Dr. Pepper...I am pretty sure you aren't talking about you. Blogs do that...people go through ugly times, or uppity times and they change. We can't fool the words...

Kamp Kyburz said...

A lot of people have stopped blogging and I wonder why. It's kind of like the neighborhood book group fizzling. Trendy and exciting at first, but then...meh. Why is that? I still blog occasionally, but because most of the people I read no longer do, I figure nobody (out of the 13 that did) reads mine either. But then I recently wrote a post that stayed up from like 10:00 p.m. until 4:30 a.m. before I deleted it and another teacher at school came to me with her laptop to ask me something about my post and when she pulled it up, she said, "It's GONE!" I said, "Yeah, I deleted it because I worried it was too negative." So this is interesting...your ideas about "The Blog."

JenR said...

You are my go to person/blog. Love the column. Love the blog. Have a great day!!!

Louise Plummer said...

Somebody needs a doughnut.

Emily said...

I do not find your blog stale. I find it honest and real and sprinkled with bubbles of Dr. Pepper. Don't stop.