Read This Blog Post or Die

The title sounds a little rash but some folks do take blogging, and blog consumption, to addictive levels. Some do it to brag (“I read 3,000 blogs and share 23,000 stories”), some do it to show prestige (“I have posted 320 items on that topic which makes me an expert”) and pretty much everyone else looks at a blog for 3 seconds and hits next or bookmarks it (on a rare ocasion actually reading the whole piece); Why? Because it’s a conversation, and conversations tend not to start with one person reading War & Peace out loud while the other person sits quietly and attentively follows every word.

So if there is one thing, only one thing, you take from this is that these words are simply a voice of someone that had something they felt like saying out loud. Will anyone listen? I don’t know that it matters. 

Most folks don’t seem to understand that. Here are a few examples of things going in the wrong direction:

I remember being IMed for weeks by one person about someone elses blog, perhaps about as frequently as that person put the blog post up. “Did you read that? Did you see what he said? Is he talking about you? What the heck is up with that?” The funny thing is that this was happening for weeks on end and every time it came up I asked if I could help them find the Delete key on their keyboard. When I find that something I am doing (reading someones blog) no longer gives me anything… well, I hit that delete button. Sure every now and then I look at it but lets face it, life is too short to waste.

On another note, there is a lot of suggestive writing out there that causes folks to identify themselves in it. I think its mostly the readers low self-esteem but I get a lot of “Was that about me?” questions. Yes, it was. It always is. It’s always about you Bob. I go through my life one day at a time, most of it consumed with me thinking about you. Then I committ them to this blog, so I never forget. There, happy now?  Really though, how much credence and value can you assign to some overly critical writing if doesn’t actually name —YOU—? “Oh no, he said riff-raff, thats gotta be me…”

Which leads to the obsessive blogging annoyance #3: “Did you read what he/she said about you, your product, your ideas, your butt?” No, I didn’t and I don’t think I care. Why? Well, I read everything thats written that links to me. Not only that, but I am not a hard guy to find or get in touch with. So if there was a personal problem or an issue they would either link to here or they would let me know directly. Do I lose sleep over what people think of me, say about me, compete, etc? Nope, I have a very thick skin and I only let my very close friends very close to what I do and how I think, which unlike the government, changes with time and circumstances… so if it is a personal issue I settle it personally, if it isn’t.. then what kind of a stupid question is that, do you sit and listen to the crazy people that stand on the street with a big sign and a megaphone? Same principle.

There are a number of others but I think those three sort of sum up the blogging ecosystem as I see it. People say stuff out loud, every now and then someone feels like talking back, every now and then something valuable gets mentioned that warrants close attention but taking it further than that… getting upset about it… getting angry… trying to file and organize 6 months worth of blog posts… giving a guy a new job because Vlad said something… thats a bit extreme and pretty unwarranted.

Let it go, and you will feel much better. Better yet, start your own blog