Here’s the problem with blogging:
People who blog often sound like they’re obsessed with themselves (see my last post). The problem with that is that it’s normal to be obsessed with yourself (who else is going to be?), but sounding like you’re obsessed with yourself is frowned upon. So, there’s a conflict.
If you, as a blogger, want other people to read your blog (and become obsessed with you?), you need to try to write as if you’re not obsessed with yourself. At the same time, you need to not sound like a moron (because that turns people off too), and hopefully you have something interesting to say that isn’t totally about yourself (but, most of us don’t have interesting things to say very often).
According to leading experts in blogger psycology, the moment when all this blogger inner turmoil shit hits the fan, Web 4.0 will officially be launched. Stay tuned.
Oh, and I also wanted to mention that I think we saw the beginning of the end of MySpace last weekend with all their problems keeping the servers running during the heat wave. Our 14-year old friend was very annoyed by it.
Most blogs are the online equivalent of the types of conversations I find supremely dissatisfying: those in which each person talks about themselves constantly.
Kind of like this:
“I took three biology classes in college and was totally bored, so biology is boring.”
“I took mostly liberal arts stuff in college.”
“I think anatomy is more boring than biology.”
“Yeah well my mom is so mean she made me take biology just because she wanted to be a doctor.”
“Well my mom is such a bitch she called me and would not shut up about how my sister is bugging her.”
“We saw a movie about how moms suck. It was called The Ice Storm, it was just like my life.”
“Yeah well The Squid and the Whale was more like my life.”
Hi Chris. Yes, I’ve noticed this too. The best blog writers seem snappy and approachable, yet slightly Cooler Than You. They’re together enough to be admirable, yet not lofty enough to be loathed. That’s a fine line to walk as a blog writer. It’s also fake, fake, fake. heh.