Thursday, January 25, 2007

As of 5:41 pm, I think Donnie Davies really is a parody.

And I don't think I'm getting much out of blogging, to be honest. It's sort of like those CB radios that let you talk to real truckers. After a while, you start wondering what the point is.

So, do other bloggers ever ask yourselves what it is that we get from this hobby?

I used to have a roommate who watched TV all day long. Whenever I was home, she was in her room with MTV on. She'd watch it until about 1:00, when she went to sleep, and then, right after her alarm went off in the morning, I'd hear the TV come on. She never really left her room and I always figured that she needed to hear the voices in order to not feel lonely.

I know that's a bit depressing, but I'm wondering lately what makes this any different than interactive television. And, I guess, I'm wondering if it's not time to turn it off.

11 comments:

SecondComingOfBast said...

The thing about blogging is, you can present yourself to your readers and in a sense give people a chance to get to know you on your own terms. In real life, way too often people have a preconceived perception of you based on looks, age, race, gender, or way too often, word of mouth-gossip, in other words- that mght not be completely accurate. Maybe over time you can let the real you shine through clearly, maybe not.

With blogging, you can be who you are, or if you prefer, just who you want to be.

Anonymous said...

There're a lot of things in my life that I can't relate to the people around me. My blog is a place to vent and air my dirty laundry. I've gotten enough comments and emails from people who've said that whatever I wrote had helped them that I'm starting to think that my blog might have greater value than just as a hobby.

Rufus said...

Yeah, I guess hobby was a bad word to use there. I know what you mean about being able to present yourself to readers. This was how I got to know Claire originally. We met on a Yahoo music group.

And I've said here before that I feel the same difficulty in finding people to confide it, or socialize with, or even just talk to about what's on my mind. I mean, it definitely gets harder the older you get.

I think we all have different reasons to do it that boil down to the same central theme- we can blog about stuff that we generally can't talk about in everyday life. I guess, in my case though, I'm starting to think that maybe people like me are supposed to search each other out in the world.

Also, I think Hiromi has gotten at this before, there's something about the culture that seems somehow purposefully alienating. Like a person should work all the time and think that their fears and deepest thoughts are somehow ridiculous- and then fill the loneliness of not having a community through retail therapy or booze or whatever. I think, for me, I tend to do the same thing with blogging.

SecondComingOfBast said...

You met your wife on a Yahoo group? Damn, I guess they are good for something after all. Yahoo Groups are about the biggest waste of time I ever got involved in.

Rufus said...

What can I say? Miracles can happen! With the Yahoo groups, the biggest factor is the moderator. If they suck, the group will suffer.

historyjen said...

For me blogging has little point other than being a way to keep my friends (and a few others who care to know) informed of my whereabouts. I don't write everything, but it's a good way to keep in touch without having to work too hard at it ;-)

Anonymous said...

Rufus, you seem to privilege face to face conversations over electronic ones. While there's obviously an advantage to face to face communication in physical closeness, I don't think that necessarily renders electronic communication shallow or silly or whatever. But your mileage may vary.

Rufus said...

I guess that's right. I don't know if I exactly prefer social contact, or if I'm just lacking it right now and idealizing it. If my social card was full, I might be missing the Internet! Part of it is that I moved up to Canuckia about three years ago and had to start over again as far as getting to know people and making new friends and so forth. And, to be honest, I haven't done so well. Of course, I also live about an hour and a half from my university, so I don't get out to a lot of social events. So, I think that the internet has filled a gap for me. But I'm starting to wonder if that's even healthy. I mean certainly not everyone in upstate New York or southern Ontario is a goombah! So maybe it would be healthier to be lonely and be forced to find people in the off-line world.

Also, I need to point out that this is the time of the year that I suffer from seasonal depression. I'm a Virginia sun baby, and I like Canada a lot, but I'm really not used to having three seasons of grey skies yet. So right now walking three blocks to the video store is seeming pretty pointless, not to mention everything else I do.

Anonymous said...

Geez, you've got an hour and a half commute to school? That's some Big Suck right there.

In any case, I don't think you should pack it in, blog-wise. Let's not cede the internet to cheesy ho pics!

Greg von Winckel said...

I like the idea of blogging and sometimes I actually do it, but when it comes down to it, I'm fundamentally lazy and antisocial. This does not help much in either the reading or writing of blogs.

Rufus said...

Hiromi- Yeah, I'm sure I'll keep going with this thing. I can't promise that I won't start posting cheesy ho pictures- just that they won't be very attractive.

Jen- Yeah, that makes sense too. They're a good way to keep friends and family updated.

Greg- Lazy and antisocial are key elements of your charm.