Things have changed in blogger-land. Many bloggers no longer keep up their blogs which probably will stay in orbit forever like space trash, if no one hits the delete button and takes them down.
Many other bloggers have initiated passwords and are keeping their writing private for only a select few. Some write the occasional post about the weather for the public, and then save the juicy stuff for those with passwords.
A very few bloggers have carved deep holes of trouble for themselves by a few sentences on their sites; they've been threatened with law-suits, persecution, shunned in their own communities at the very least by those they've written about.
Someone even said that the internet and blogs have flushed themselves down the toilet.
Is the honeymoon over?
It's true, at the beginning when everyone and his uncle started blogs and blogged about intimate details that few people really wanted to know, blogs were an Open Sesame to the internet and 15 minutes of fame. And some bloggers went berserk, displaying themselves and all their dirty linen to anybody who cared to read about it.
Someone even might say there was too much freedom in cyberspace.
As for me, I've been blogging for 2 years now, and never received spam or comments I didn't publish. The worst I got was my post about Melina Brufman dancing topless tango, but I just got a big kick out of all the defenders (mainly Melina and her staff), and felt good about the power of the word.
I do hope that blogging isn't becoming passé, because I for one really enjoy reading the posts of others and writing my own posts. I have learned so much from blogging. I have a feeling though that soon blogs will be more sanitized and more commercial--much lest venting and vomiting.
When blogging becomes like that--all slick and smooth--some of us will have to find another way to communicate with the world and express ourselves.
After eleven years living, dancing, teaching tango, and writing in Buenos Aires, I came home to L.A. in 2014, where I'm reconstructing my life.
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5 comments:
I have been tempted a few times to make my blog private, but I won't do it.
I have a friend who I didn't realized was reading my blog all this time. She's from another country where this sort of freedom of speech did not exist (especially for women), and so she told me that regardless of what she thinks of what I write, she loves that I keep a blog because she loves seeing women speak for themselves and being honest and passionate - something she didn't really see much of until she came to the States.
Blogging is wonderful. I started back in 2004 with my Italy blog, and now this Tango blog a year ago, and oh how wonderful it is to be able to type what I want and get people's feedback. It's cool!
Yes, the power of the word... :-)
Good post Cherie! I have been thinking about these issues a lot ever since I started blogging. I made a few "rules" for myself, taking into account your ideas that few people are interested in all the mundane details of my life (maybe a separate site for the family who want pictures of the kids etc.) I decided to try try try to keep it interesting, not to trash people or get personal about me or anyone else, not to expose people with video etc, unless I had permission. To be nice, and if there were problems to report, they would be reported in a format which protects me and others, but gives the truth as it comes to me. I do reserve the right to be sarcastic, as it is a disease I was born with...
It is a great way to have a voice and to put thoughts out and to get feedback...
And lately I am so happy and grateful for blogging, because it has been like a big human conversation that has no boundaries, and has brought me wonderful friends, some of whom I have met now in person, and love! Cherie, Tina, Evie. And dance partners, and future friends and partners. And in line with what Tina says, it gives a way for people to speak for themselves, to be honest. Long live the words, long live the freedom and power of words.
So far I publish every comment, and I hope that I will be able to keep it that way. Too much freedom? I don't think so...
Cherie, I love your blog because it is truthful, interesting, universal, funny, has good pictures, is up to date, and because I just love you and Ruben.
Besos, E
Eventually, good writing and interesting content will make sure blogging endures.
I was fortunate to have a very private "come to Jesus" about blogging content early on. I mentioned someone who let me know very forcefully they did not want to be talked about. They are very private, and blogging is very public. Lesson learned.
This does not mean that content will become "slick" or sanitized. But those who choose to "vomit" (I love that description), should be prepared for the stink it can cause :-)
Dear Cherie
The old saying goes something like "Content Is King!"
It depends entirely why people bother to blog (keep a Web-Log). There are many blog authors who still can not differentiate between a Blog and a Business website or Family/Personal Home-Pages.
Of course the whole beautiful concept about the Web is that people are FREE to do as they wish and from this chaos comes sense and logic and order -we are told!
So although some write or say anything just to get "Traffic" come their way and invite (any) visitors to pop over to their blog-site - regardless of it being with either enforcement of restrictions of public access! or not - , at the end of it all what transpires from all that effort is that if they have an audience then they have succeeded in their goals and if not that should not matter much either. There is enough room for everyone of us in our cyber world to lose our voices or make our noises:)
Keep up the good work!
MilongaCat.
Thanks everyone for all of these fantastic comments!
Since I wrote the post, I've continued to think about it and the problem of "too much intimate information" on the net.
It takes courage to put yourself out there, warts and all, to be seen and criticized, talked about and taken apart. Some people can't take it. And others love being the center of attention, whatever is said about them.
I congratulate all of the honest bloggers out there, no matter how long you felt like doing it. Maybe blogs, like relationships, have their own life-span.
Any artist, whether a performer or a writer or a painter or an architect puts his ego on the line when the art goes public. He/she put their guts and soul into their work, and the public and critics maul it like hungry hyenas.
Look at the authors of barely disguised autobiographies, or raw memoirs who no longer have friends or people speaking to them after publication because of what they wrote. The writers know that going in but still choose to write the truth as they see it. And others can write and rebut the same story but with a different truth, their truth.
It's really wonderful, when you think about it. But not everyone is cut out for the slings and arrows. Or the silent treatment when they enter a milonga.
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