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February 21, 2006
My Pre-Blogging Addiction
About two years ago, my buddy John at Mind on Fire sent me an invitation to join Friendster. It seemed kind of silly, and I was suspicious of anything that required me to upload a photo (especially since I didn't know how to do it) but I figured what the hell, and I joined.
And that was that, for a good long while. But seven or eight months later I met someone who was all about Friendster--oh, he'd met so many cool people through it! It made it so easy to keep track of people! I should definitely make more use of it. And it wasn't all that hard to scan and upload a photo; he'd show me how.
So I posted a few photos. And I set about crafting a profile I thought people might find interesting. And then I set about refining it--I only had 2000 characters, so I had to stay focused, had to keep things concise! And then I realized that I LOVED writing sharp, incisive portraits of myself in two or three quick sentences. As far as I was concerned, it was the perfect literary form.
I looked at my profile almost every day. I didn't care whether or not anyone wanted to be my friend--in fact, I got kind of snotty when people with boring or incomplete profiles sent me messages that weren't worthy of my hard work. I would leave a paragraph up for a week or two, then I'd try to write something better. Bits I really liked I transferred to a word processing file, so I wouldn't forget them.
I was addicted.
But it wasn't enough. I outgrew the fix. I wanted more, and I wanted it more often.
And then someone told me to check out his blog on Blogger, and I saw that button reading "Get Your Own Blog," and I knew my search was over.
I haven't abandoned Friendster entirely; my profile is still there. OK, I hardly ever go there, for reasons that I'll explain soon. But I still like my profile, so I'm going to post some of the highlights here--check back tomorrow!
Posted by holly at February 21, 2006 8:31 AM
I'm not sure what it is about blogging that's compulsive for me, but "fix" and "addiction" are good words to describe this...habit. The first step is admitting that you have a problem, right? Compulsive blogging is a strange disorder--I've always felt that there are exhibitionist elements (for the writer, and I guess voyeuristic aspects to reading them). There's no such thing, I guess, as solitary blogging.
Where will your addiction lead? I'm looking forward to reading your personal history of blogging.
Yes, for quite a while I've been aware that my interest in computers and blogging could very well be classified as an addiction. All the signs are there.
Slightly off topic though, here's my pet peeve. My eyesight is not the greatest and I'm aware that reading vast amounts of stuff on the computer isn't helping much. So, I usually stay away from reading long blog entries on other people's blogs (except yours, Holly, I read your long stuff). However, sometimes I'll commit myself to reading some stranger's long winded musings because something about it will catch my attention.
But I think people should not write things that are both really long, and really stupid. I think if you're going to put something on the internet, you should have thought it out first, then proof-read it at least a little bit. Because sometimes, these long blog entries ramble and wind and before I know it, I'm reading about what this person ate for breakfast and some adorable (read: insignificant to me) thing their kid said.
Waste of my eyesight. I always feel mad afterwards. Makes me want to leave a really cutting anonymous comment.
See ya Holly!!
I'm glad I make the cut, Reese. :-) And Jim, my blog host, has offered to plug in some software that would count how many words my entries have, but aware as I am that my stuff tends to be sort of long, I don't want people to have concrete proof that my stuff is really long.
But I do try to keep things a reasonable length. For instance, I have split into four parts what was originally going to be a single entry. You've just read part one, the preamble. It's not so interesting but it's the necessary set-up to the really good stuff in parts two, three and four.
Hey Holly,
Well, what I like about your blog is that it is what it is. It's very personal, and obviously you're not trying to start your own little cult here by raking up a million readers - you're just doing your thing - and, honestly, I really appreciate the care you put into your writing, it's enjoyable to read. Maybe you're a natural writer, but I know it would take me AGES to produce high quality writing every day. (I'm a hit and miss writer). But I think you have a real flair for making almost anything interesting - so good for you, Holly. You're blog was the find of the century for me!
Wow--thank you, Reese. You have made my day.