Why do you blog?

from JoeUser Forums
I'm taking a class on privacy right now, and we're discussing the fact that people seem very willing to "bare all", as it were, online. We tell stories about ourselves to perfect strangers that we might not tell people in our daily lives. People, especially teenagers, seem willing to tell everything and, at times, show everything.

So, why do you blog? Do you feel the need to create an "online" identity? Do you enjoy sharing your life and feel safe doing so where people do not know you? How often do you share personal information, private details, even embarrasing incidents that you would cringe to tell to people you work with?

I don't know if anyone on JU also participates in MySpace or Facebook... but if you do, why? Are you cautious about what pictures you post? Are you careful of what you write on other people's walls?

Are you afraid that what you write could one day come back to bite you? Get you fired? Do you sometimes write something, then wish you could go back and erase it all?

Are you blogging your life so you won't forget the details?

Thanks for your help, JU. Your input is most valued.
blogging
4,258 views 16 replies
Reply #1 from JoeUser Forums Top
Nothing I say here is anything I wouldn't say at work.

That being said, I'm a very open person to begin with. I see no point in keeping secrets most of the time. I haven't really created a person I'm not; with me, what you see here is what you get in real life.

The reason I blog is to be able to get to know new people. But mostly . . . I blog because I like to write. And vent. And other funstuffs.
Reply #2 from JoeUser Forums Top

A creative outlet.  That many see.  And no, I do not pretend, but then I do not share all as well.  Do I know you?  Do you know me?

That is the problem. And the reason.  I can write about funny stuff and whatever.  I dont have to tell all.  Am I hiding? Or just being cautious?

Do all questions have answers?

Groupy 2 - Organize multiple applications into grouped tabs on your Windows desktop
Reply #3 from JoeUser Forums Top

I blog for lots of reasons.

I blog because I like it.

I blog because someone might actually read something I wrote...heh.

There are a few people in my family I hope never find my blog.  But they don't have computers so I'm not too worried about it.  I could live with it if they did, but I wouldn't want to hurt their feelings.  Not that I've said things here I haven't said to them, but I do discuss things sometimes they would consider private.  Like terminal illness.

I've written things and posted them and then wished I didn't.  But I leave them.

Reply #4 from JoeUser Forums Top
An outlet for my opinions, emotions, etc...

When I have nothing else to do, or sometimes i just force myself to write something. That doesn't mean that i post it, most of the time i just save it, and put it in a folder.

Like, right now... I'm writing.

Reply #5 from JoeUser Forums Top
I write for entertainment. Mine and hopefully others.

This is the first blog I have ever had and will probably be the only one. I guess I was surprised at how many people I have come to know and like. That was a definite bonus.
Reply #6 from JoeUser Forums Top
Like Kelly, I write for entertainment. I enjoy writing and blogging offers up an unquantifiable audience. Like San Chonino, I am a very open person and have no problems revealing things about myself and my life, particularly if these details help illuminate a perspective.

I also have a MySpace profile, both personal and for my band. I don't spend a huge amount of time on the personal one, but the band one we work as it is a great way of sharing our music and band information.

The me I am online is the me I am for real, minus my good looking physical self, of course   
Reply #7 from JoeUser Forums Top
This is really great stuff. Thanks for sharing.

Anyone else?

Oh, and do you censor yourself? Do you make yourself look better than you truly are?
Reply #8 from JoeUser Forums Top
I blog, therefore I am.

I am who I am whether in person or on my blog. I don't have an online persona. It's just me, warts and all.

For me, I blog in lieu of keeping a personal journal as well as because I can enjoy the feedback and interactions with others that goes along with a blog. If it weren't for the community type interaction of JU I would probably not be blogging today.

Are you afraid that what you write could one day come back to bite you? Get you fired?


Nope. I am who I am. Frankly, I really don't give a crap if anyone including my boss doesn't like what I write. They can all eat my shorts.

Do you sometimes write something, then wish you could go back and erase it all?


Yeah. That "eat my shorts" line for example.
Reply #9 from JoeUser Forums Top
I blog for the hell of it...on a range of topics from what's happening around me, poetry, news stories, etc.

I have a Myspace, but it's only for keeping in touch with some friends. I also have a Facebook which I frequent a good bit and for the same reason, keeping in touch with all my friends who are spread out among several colleges(and the ones still at my high school).

Do I create an identity or say something different than I normally would? Nope. I keep the same personality no matter where I am...the only time I pretend is when I'm writing something like a story.

~Zoo
Reply #10 from JoeUser Forums Top
I blog for reasons mentioned above as well. I also like to see how and why people think the way they do. I enjoy all the diff personalities on JU.

So far I've met or know personally three bloggers on JU.

I'm with Kelly. This is my first and probably only blog. I was pretty much talked into it. I didn't even set up my own account. My son, a former JU'er set me up.

I pretty much am what I blog. I'm not much of an actor and usually stay away from the drama scene.

As far as making myself looking better? Hahahah....anyone that's read me should know better than that. I am what I blog......
Reply #11 from JoeUser Forums Top
do you censor yourself? Do you make yourself look better than you truly are?


To answer the first question: it depends. Obviously, there are details of who I am I don't think are necessary for everyone to know. I think it is the same with everybody.

For the second question, I think we've all tried to make ourselves look better at some point in our lives. Most of us outgrow this, though. Besides, the only person I'd be letting down is me and this something I try hard not to do.
Reply #12 from JoeUser Forums Top

I blog because someone might actually read something I wrote...heh.

I think Tova touches on something here that might,  to some,  reveal too much about our own feelings......we want and need to be recognized,  accepted,  mostly to be acknowledged in life.

I blog because I can,  because I like to share my life with others,  because I'm creating a journal for my grandchildren. 

It's great to be able to write an article and have others say " oh that happened to me too and this is how I felt,  or what I did".

It's a way of commiserating with others, without all the judgemental junk we get from family...at least some of the time anyway

Reply #13 from JoeUser Forums Top
I suppose I could answer my own questions...

I don't really blog anywhere else, but JU has a special quality. The sense of community is so nice. I enjoy getting feedback to my questions and my problems. It helps to have other people's opinions when I'm going through something or doing something. And I like being able to help others in the same way.

I actually feel free-er here at JU to be myself. Only one person knows exactly who I am on this blog, and I don't think he comes on here anymore. None of my friends know where I blog. I feel like I can talk about things that I can't talk about with them. There are things they wouldn't understand.

I keep this blog a secret from my friends, family and job because it is very personal. I'm not sure why it is easier to share with strangers... but that's the way it is.

I have a Facebook and a Myspace, but those I have to censor. There are things, small things, that I could say to get myself fired. (Example: "I got so drunk last night!" I could get fired for comments like that) Here, I can say anything I want.

I have gone back and erased some of my articles. There are things I don't want to remember afterall, and fortunately, I can delete them and I'm not smart enough to find them in Internet archives.

I don't think Sugar High Elf is a false persona anymore than the RA side of me, or the Preacher's Kid side of me. I'm honest about feelings and events... as I said, more so than in real life.

Thanks everyone for your comments! This is yet another reason to love JU!
Reply #14 from JoeUser Forums Top
Do you make yourself look better than you truly are?


Like time travel or going faster than the speed of light that would be an impossibility...   
Reply #15 from JoeUser Forums Top
Do you enjoy sharing your life and feel safe doing so where people do not know you? How often do you share personal information, private details, even embarrasing incidents that you would cringe to tell to people you work with?

Blogging is simply a way to express myself and to put my thoughts out there. I prefer life journaling over my past blog. I'm just getting more out of it.

I feel safe. There was only one person who I knew read my blog and he's gone. I like the anoymity and intimacy at the same time. I don't really think about people reading it. I mostly write for myself.

I would say my first blog represented the quirky part of my personality. The new one is essentially all me - flaws and all.

Reply #16 from JoeUser Forums Top

I don't blog much any more, but it's about social interaction as much anything else for me.  I now have a mommy forum I spend a lot of time at, which is a good fit since I am so freaking boring no one else would want to listen to me, .

I like the interesting mix of people here, and it is nice to write something and have others respond to it.

I am pretty open online but I don't share everything.  Not because I'm afraid or anything, just because there are things I don't want to "talk" about.

I used to have a MySpace page; a friend convinced me to start one.  Adrian asked me to take it down because "that's where all the horny infantry guys go to find chicks".  I never used it "meet" anyone I didn't already know, though.  I did get rid of it. 

I know that at the mommy website where I hang out a lot of women got freaked out when they realized that their message posts and photos were accessible via google.  They honestly thought that all this personal info they were posting on the internet was private.

Here's a funny one, though.  Knowing that both JU and *mommy website* are completely public and can be googled, and that my screen name at *mommy website* is not even remotely cryptic, I openly post my weight (and things like thoughts on pregnant sex) but would never even consider doing that on JU.