Blogland is weird. This whole crazy community we all participate in is often hard to explain. If you were to have told me 10 years ago that 1/2 my friends would eventually exist online, I would have called you insane. I'm constantly impressed with the support and friendship I find online. Yall have listened to me breakdown about our previous relocation.....you've bought shirts and sent meals for my sweet sister, Caroline, without ever hearing her voice or mine.....you've rallied around sick babies......you've encouraged and loved people you've never met.
It really is fascinating.
And, I love it.
But, I find just saying the words, "On my blog" make me feel narcissistic. Like my life is so important that I have to chronicle it and share it with the world. Yes, my original intention was to keep family and friends up to date on our moving around the country. But, this crazy little blog has turned into much more than that. We're a community.....or "tribe".....as Coco recently explained to me.
Most people get it. But, every now and then I'll launch into some explanation of a connection.....of my friend, Clare, for example, who went with me to a Building Better Moms GNO recently.....and how we met via blogland......I commented on Tuesday's blog about a year ago and she noticed I was moving to KC and so was she.......so we "met" online and have been in touch for a long time, but never spoken to each other and then met in real life Friday.
The looks I get.
Or, how about Coco? People assume we knew each other prior to our blogs and we didn't. I randomly found her blog and immediately thought she was really funny, so I commented. She in turn saw my blog and liked Lainey's 1st birthday dress Mae Mae gave us. So, I shared the link and we started emailing.......and then moved to sending actual mail to each other......then gifts.......then we spoke on the phone (she was so awkward at first, yall).......then she drove her wacky kids 17 hours north to the Midwest for us to spend a weekend together.
It's quite confusing to those who aren't familiar.
***How have your family and friends reacted to your blog? What are your thoughts on blogland? Any uncomfortable explanations like I seem to always find myself in?
And, please know I won't judge. I recently created a Facebook fan page for a fake cat. I obviously have no reservations about throwing it all out there.
26 comments:
You say this so well! I too find myself almost embarrassed when I mention...my blog. And I never thought that I would have so many "friends" or that anyone would actually read my blog! Weirdness, I must say...plain weirdness. But yet I can't imagine not having all these friends!
~Gay~
itsahodgepodgelife.blogspot.com
It is a strange world in blogland. I read a friend of a friend's blog and got totally addicted to checking it and seeing what was going on with the family. It wasn't until I started our blog that I branched out and found some of the fun blogs that have now become favorites. Most the time I have to remind my Mom to read our blog so it is obviously a different world for non-bloggers. Since I have started mine other family members have started blogging also, but even then not everyone gets into it the same way. Wow, totally rambling! My point is, blogworld is different for everyone but a lot of us really get into it and enjoy doing it.
If anyone told me I'd go meet someone that I know through my blog, I'd have told them they were totally crazy...but here we are.
And, weird that we were both blogging about Friday at the same time-yeah?
The blogging community is great but you have to be a blogger to understand it. I have met so many awesome people blogging and now in real life. It is a little weird making friends online but when you blog about real life stuff it is hard not to make connections.
I get a lot of crap for doing it sometimes but I enjoy so much aboutit so I will continue. Good to hear others feel the same.
I am thinking about you as I am writing my post tonight. I loved your comment on my Thursday post about my friends and our matching outfits. Can't wait to see your commments on our girls weekend!
I probably agree with Kim -- most people don't really get it unless they blog too! For the most part, my family loves it! In fact, our grandmas read every single day! I also love the online friendships I have made! It's a wacky world but I am so glad I am a part of it!
Hope you have a great week!
I agree completely! I didn't even know what a stinkin blog was before Corinne. And you know what is funny that you wrote this...I found myself with my cell phone in hand wanting to tell you something last week and then suddenly remembered we were blog friends and I don't have your number:) I don't even remember what it was.
Speaking of meow meow, Corinne has finally taken to having a lovey. While my sister was in town a couple of weeks ago, she all of the sudden needed her cat lovey. We got a million of them (all different) when I was pregnant but she never has cared for them. But now, she has her "ditty", as she calls her!
Have a great day - in blogland and in real land :)
well, casey, you know my situation... i just don't really tell real life people about it. however, i have found myself in bible study requesting prayers for people and then my friends ask ... 'and how do you know them?' to which i preface my response with a lengthy and random answer and then eventually admit 'the blogs...'
this is something i NEVER would have guessed i would do! BUT! glad i did and glad we met!! :)
I agree with the others... you only get it if you are a blogger. I have only met a few real life people through my blog (one lives less than a mile away and is super sweet,) but I email back and forth with other bloggers frequently. And, I will talk about things with people and I do get some weird looks when I tell them how I "know" these people. And, I am sure when I pray at dinner and I mention people that I know through blogs, my hubs probably thinks I am crazy. But, It isn't online dating for goodness sakes. I mean, for the most part, we are all ladies. And, I have had some friends in college and such that were quite the "Single White Female" and I met them the normal way. I am a little weirded out when people I know "regular" mention something that they obviously have read on my blog... perhaps I have less inhibitions on my blog than I do in real life.
Great question... can't wait to see what other people comment.
Have a great week
I am with Froggity...not many people know about it! Some family and only b/c my mom or sister told them and then really just a select group of friends. I really don't tell people about it and even when I am around mixed group of friends I ask them to not mention the blog b/c I don't want certain people to know about it.
Any blog friends I have are through you and Coco!!!
I don't really get the weirdness. I've been online for so long and everybody who knows me knows I have a blog. I don't think it's narcissistic. I think it's creative and fun and just another channel to connect. I'm all about being authentic (which is, incidentally, what Rielle Hunter told Oprah fourteen million times in her interview. Clearly our ideas on authenticity are a little different. I won't screw your husband.) so I want people to know what I'm into and if they don't like it or think it's weird or whatever, then we aren't meant to be. And that's ok.
(I'll probably end up meeting a couple dozen people in real life this year that I met online.)
Oh yeah..... some of my friends think I am the biggest weirdo..... actually none of my "real life" friends have blogs. They totally DO NOT get it. I agree, you almost have to be a blogger to get it. It is embarrassing to say "my blog friend" or "blog" in general to them. I know that, inside they are rolling their eyes. There are lots of times that I wish I hadn't told anyone about my blog... but hey, I'm an open book. I don't hold anything back!
It's funny.... it was the blogs that opened the whole world of adoption to us!!!! And look, here we are.... It's funny how there are little communities of blogs... the adoption community, the party goods and planning community, the decorating community, the perfect mom ;) community.... I always say, you can find out anything you need to know from google or a blog!
It's funny.... my kids separate my blog friends into categories.... the ones I went to dinner and now know if real life and ones that I've never met.
I have to say, we have gotten more support in our adoption from blog people than we have from some of our closest friends in real life. Don't get me wrong, we have lots of people that we know in real life that are "walking the journey with us" closely, but the bloggers have been awesome, and many of you I don't even know in real life.
Well, I could go on and on... I'll stop there! Basically my real life friends think I'm a freak for having a blog. They totally don't get it and they are so missing out!
oh my word, I didn't realize that comment was so long. Obviously, I feel strongly about the blog!
I also don't tell anyone. My Mom is the only person that I personally know that follows and one longtime girlfriend that I have known since I was 2.
Casey, you introduced me to Coco which I am sure we bumped into each other at tech...we hung around the same group and everything.
Nope...I am part of Coco's family so not much of anything will embarass me! My husband is very much a male version of Coco...no filter at all.
I use my blog as an outlet. It is a secret to my family. I mention it at school occasionally and people get it that I read blogs and feel like I know people because I follow their blogs. My husband is a big blog reader and writer so he gets it. I love having the outlet to share and discuss. I do, however, realize that it might sound weird to someone who doesn't get the blogging world. I did have a friend recently that doesn't blog but sometimes stops by and said, I like reading it because I can hear your voice. That made me feel like it really was a good thing to be doing.
Brad loves the blog thing. Seriously.. he's super supportive.
My parents don't really get it and never check it.
And.. that wedding we went to a few weeks ago?
I had not met half the people there but about 10 of them came up to me and told me that they love reading my blog! can you believe? The bride felt like she knew me! I'm so happy of the people that I've met through your circle. Sass.. we totally have to meet in real life one day!
It's such a weird little "tribe" as Coco calls it. My real-life friends don't get it at all, and none of them have blogs. And I always feel embarrassed when I mention something about "a friend" and they ask how I know that friend and then I have to explain that I really don't know them...just in blogland. But I love it and I feel so blessed to have met the women I've met by doing this! It is a great support system and it's so fun to learn about other people's lives, get ideas about parenthood, arts, crafts, recipes, etc.... I just don't think you get it unless you actually do it.
And really...it's such a small world. For me to have met Pa at a Cowboy game and then realize he was your father-in-law???? And then to reconnect with Coco again. And I know I saw Carrie around Tech too. It's just funny.
My whole family reads my blog, and Ryan is always telling people about it. About 4 of my teacher friends here at work have started blogging after reading mine. It's an outlet for creativity and a chance to chronicle all the little things that we don't want to forget. Also, the friends I have made in blogland, some I have met in "real life" and some not, are awesome, and I am thrilled to have connected with them! Great question!
None of my "real life" friends have blogs but do read mine but only one comments.
But now my "blog friends" are such a grey area b/c I consider most of you "real" friends as well.
Though I have only met a few in person. Sara and I knew each other at Tech, ran in the same social circle.
Then my friendship with you. Which I still get shit for.
Allison and I now, Jen and Sass. So lucky and I love it.
i, like you, started blogging for my out of town family. then it seems this little group of ours formed. (we are all intertwined through you though which is fun). Now it seems we write to each other. I love it as well. Those who blog get it, but they don't really get it unless they are involved with a "tribe" also. It is great and consider so many strangers friends.
1. Meow meow is not fake.
2. I once had a friend insult me by saying, "And I bet you have a blog, don't you?" (At the time, I did for my class, jerk)!
3. I've thought about creating a personal blog to help others going through what I go through, and to help others understand. I'm just not too sure if I'm disciplined enough.
4. Your blog makes me feel EVEN closer to you. I was devastated when you moved to Denver, but, because of your blog, I haven't skipped a beat! THANNK YOU!
5. So, to the naysayers - screw you!
I haven't really got into my blog to the extent that I have had to explain it to people. A lot of people who know me do not even know about it. I mainly just do mine for some family and friends that do not live around here. If I was a better writer, I might get into it more, for now it's just a day in the life of Cason.
I do follow several blogs and randomly search and read others on a daily basis. It's a great way to keep up with people.
Just a handful of people read my blog, mostly family. But I love it! Most of my friends don't blog, but they hear all about mine and my "blog friends." Some don't "get" it, some do.
You've introduced me to a lot of the blogs I read, so thanks!
First of all... Meow Meow on FB is awesome. Pure awesomeness.
So... some people just don't get it at all. My ex, for instance, thought I was a nutbag. He could not comprehend how people I had never met could mean so much to me. But he was kinda a weird one anyway. I have a few friends who don't blog themselves but love reading mine (why, not sure but bless them for it!) and have started following the other blogs I love. And don't think we're creepy, but my friend Sarah loves your blog too so now and then we'll see something and she'll say something like, "Oh, I bet Casey with the little kids who ski would like this" and I love that she talks about my blog friends like she knows them.
I just rambled a whole lot and didn't offer much... but this community is amazing. And yes, 10 years ago, I would have thought the concept of online friends who meant this much to me was impossible...
Mr. ESPN totally doesn't get it but that's Ok - he's used to not understanding me! It's funny how I read your blog and then saw you on my cousin Jann's facebook page - small world. Some of my family and friends read my blog (mostly b/c my mom tells people about it). I think it's like a cool little social club we have going. We should have a little blog convention.
I'm so glad you have a blog because it makes me laugh. Caroline used to share things with me and the cupcakes on the floor are still one of my favorites. I love reading about Carter, Jack, and Lainey because Caroline has been telling me stories for years. And now I'm excited about the on-line book club. I finally started rereading the book and I'm enjoying it as much the second time around.
I'm glad that i see www.blogger.com again
[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guujTrBSg_w]natural makeup tutorial[/url]
[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-YKJF87SCQ]zombie makeup tutorial[/url]
[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHChVU6r6wo]asian makeup tutorial[/url]
Post a Comment