writing in the shadows
I have discovered with some surprise that I now have a fair number of people reading this blog, especially on an RSS feed. There was a big increase in numbers at the start of this year. When I say big, I literally mean a 200% jump, which sounds impressive but isn't because not many people were reading to begin with. This Livejournal account has existed since 2001 (!!) which kind of boggles the mind but I'm pretty pleased that I've kept on writing for so many years and it's a nice chronicle of how things have developed and changed over the years.
I'm really curious about who these silent readers are and why the sudden increase happened in January. I don't publicise this space at all and very few of the people I know in real life actually know about this blog or bother to read it - maybe four people in total? Many of the friends I made online here have stopped writing and probably stopped reading as well, which is a shame because we did build up a nice friendship and I even met a few of them in person and now we're just in contact via Facebook which is not my ideal way of staying in touch.
Over the past couple of months I have been thinking about why I write and why I choose to air my family's life on a public portal. It certainly isn't a way for my real-world friends and family to keep in touch with me so why do I write for strangers? Undeniably there is a twinge of satisfaction and a sense of validation when someone responds to something I've written. I read many, many blogs (I even did MA research on it) from all over the world on a variety of topics and they have become an invaluable source of information, inspiration, and escapism. I guess my ramblings are just a way my way of contributing to the online babble; although I would like to say that I write for myself and no one else, the reality is that of course I like the ego stroking that comes from knowing some people like my verbiage enough to add me to their RSS feed. I like sharing my stories and the sense of an audience, although, like the proverbial actor blinded onstage by the strong lighting, I can't see past the stage to make out who they are.
I'm still debating if I should move this blog to another portal, turn it to a friends-only, semi-private one, or shut it down altogether. And in the midst of this debate, in true contradictory self I go and start another blog! It's not really a new thing, it's one of my 2014 resolutions to restart my flash365 project, and I managed to export all my entries from 2007 till present day over there. I apparently have 2,327 photographs and posts! That's over two thousand entries chronicling the quotidian changes of my life. Again, the question remains - why put it up for public viewing? As the children grow this is something that I'm going to think much more seriously about.
I'm really curious about who these silent readers are and why the sudden increase happened in January. I don't publicise this space at all and very few of the people I know in real life actually know about this blog or bother to read it - maybe four people in total? Many of the friends I made online here have stopped writing and probably stopped reading as well, which is a shame because we did build up a nice friendship and I even met a few of them in person and now we're just in contact via Facebook which is not my ideal way of staying in touch.
Over the past couple of months I have been thinking about why I write and why I choose to air my family's life on a public portal. It certainly isn't a way for my real-world friends and family to keep in touch with me so why do I write for strangers? Undeniably there is a twinge of satisfaction and a sense of validation when someone responds to something I've written. I read many, many blogs (I even did MA research on it) from all over the world on a variety of topics and they have become an invaluable source of information, inspiration, and escapism. I guess my ramblings are just a way my way of contributing to the online babble; although I would like to say that I write for myself and no one else, the reality is that of course I like the ego stroking that comes from knowing some people like my verbiage enough to add me to their RSS feed. I like sharing my stories and the sense of an audience, although, like the proverbial actor blinded onstage by the strong lighting, I can't see past the stage to make out who they are.
I'm still debating if I should move this blog to another portal, turn it to a friends-only, semi-private one, or shut it down altogether. And in the midst of this debate, in true contradictory self I go and start another blog! It's not really a new thing, it's one of my 2014 resolutions to restart my flash365 project, and I managed to export all my entries from 2007 till present day over there. I apparently have 2,327 photographs and posts! That's over two thousand entries chronicling the quotidian changes of my life. Again, the question remains - why put it up for public viewing? As the children grow this is something that I'm going to think much more seriously about.