Friday, July 20, 2007

Rainy Friday morning

I did not sleep well last night. Sometime around 2:00 AM I woke up in a sweat. The house felt warm. I fiddled with the A/C setting and then it got cold. Damn, why is it always one extreme or the other?

Since I could not sleep, I sat at my computer and checked out a few blogs. There has been drama on one blog I recently discovered, one in which I had not left comments before. This blogger is a person who is going through an unbelievably tough time in her life, a time of change. Her blog is her safe place, her vehicle to put out there what's bothering her and making sense of it. Another blogger, who apparently had been friendly in the past, posted something on her own blog about how bloggers have become a bunch of depressed whiners sitting around in their underwear writing. She said that anyone who had "real" problems would not be blogging, unless they allowed blogging in prisons and hospitals. All of this made the first blogger feel like she was being personally attacked, since it was coupled with the link to her blog being removed for the other blogger's page. Drama ensued. A lot of fellow bloggers rallied to the first blogger's side.

Personally, I am not invested in this matter. I do not know either of the bloggers, although I have visited the first blogger's page before and I felt bad that her feelings were hurt, so I left her a comment offering virtual hugs. But the whole exchange has made me think a lot about why we blog and flock to other people's blogs, how blogger communities are formed and breached, and about the ease with which we can be insensitive online, whether deliberate or accidental. Such are the things one does while suffering from insomnia.

My thoughts are still jumbled in my head, and I am going to be late for work, so I do not know if I can put them down in a coherent manner yet. I will try again later.

6 comments:

  1. I really appreciate you visiting my blog Ingrid! That whole situation initiated a lot of reflection on my part too. Made me a little insecure about blogging my heart out, but I'm back up and running today. "Love me or leave me" is my take on it. No need to diss other people's blogging efforts, just go elsewhere if it isn't what you want to read - much like turning off the TV if you find the show offends you. I'm going to keep being myself, that's all any of us really can be! :-)

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  2. Absolutely, Josie. I'm with you. Your blog should ultimately serve you and be a reflection of you, not of what other people want.

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  3. I have some theories about blog drama but try to avoid it like the plague. I have had to endure too much dyke drama in real life too last me a lifetime--LOL:)

    I am glad I stumbled across your blog this morning.It is nice. The picture of you and your daughter is so cute. It made me smile--which I needed after a rather stormy night here in Central Arizona.

    ~Becky

    ~Becky

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  4. I hear you. I actually get drama about my blog from my husband. He's a very private person and doesn't understand why I want the world to know I lost 4 lbs and such. He just doesn't understand my social nature. And it is hard to keep things in perspective when they're only words. Body language and tone take up so much of our interpretation.

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  5. Eso es lo bueno de los blogs, que uno entra a ellos por pura voluntad propia. Por eso no creo en la censura. Cada cual escriba lo que quiera y si no quieren ir a leerlo, hay cuchusientos mil blogs mas. Asi de facil.

    Seguramente eso fue algo personal...

    Saludos!

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  6. To make another blogger feel bad about their own personal thoughts sounds very cruel to me. People should feel safe and secure to share themselves with others without suffering undue ridicule.
    Just my two cents...

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