Friday, October 07, 2005

BLOGGING, IT’S SO MUCH LIKE REAL LIFE

A piece of advice regularly given to neophyte bloggers who want to increase their read count is to tell their family and friends about their blog and encourage them to visit. Wrong, bad mistake on so many levels, I hardly know where to begin.

It’s bad for the writing because deep in the back of your mind is that thought –what if my mother reads it I don’t mind the NIA reading my blogs, but I’m sure my mother still has a sliver of Lifebuoy she’ll use to wash out my mouth, although she’ll have a hard time catching me now. So with my mother hovering over one shoulder, dad and cousins and Auntie Sue, the prose becomes leaden and crowded with all the people in life that I can't afford to offend.

Worse yet is when colleagues find out and you have to think twice about sharing the gory details of your weekend in case the boss reads it. You might also find that some of the loved ones don’t like you at all, and enemies find it a safe and anonymous way to get back at you for real or perceived wrongs. It also gets confusing when you are creating a persona who is an extension of yourself, the last thing you want is the dead hand of reality reaching out at you.

My advice is don’t ask don’t tell, or otherwise, fuck it, say it like it is and bugger the consequences, as the T-shirt says “Fuck ‘em if they can’t take the joke”.

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