Monday, November 15, 2010

Ch-ch-changes, or: A note about blogs

As I've said before, I feel that the internet (especially things like Facebook, or in this case, blogs) is a slippery slope: it takes little for people to realize that they've shared far too much and that what they've shared is now visible by, technically, the entire world.  In that sense, that's where my argument deviates away from things like Facebook (where you can set privacy settings) and specifically zeroes in on blogs (where, in my case, it isn't exactly accessible by the entire world but rather is only read through referencing links that I myself have provided).  Despite having a much smaller audience, the fact of the matter remains: a personal piece of information willingly posted is still on the World Wide Web, and even though it isn't accessible to strangers (to mine or anyone's knowledge), it CAN be simply because it's there.

Now, I don't completely frown upon the sharing of information - I've pretty much said everything there is to say on my Facebook profile (my paranoia is nulled by the knowledge of there being privacy settings).  When considering blogs, I do realize that it's an outlet - perhaps even a therapeutic one - and that the word "blog" is pretty much a fancy term for "public online diary."  As I previously said, I don't frown upon getting personal; it merely comes down to a person's own discretion and their comfortability with their audience gaining personal insight, however deep it may be.

That being said, I'm not overly comfortable with it; I know my own discretion and line.  I'm not sure if you've noticed - if you haven't, bonus! - but a certain "infamous" blog post has ceased to exist, mainly because it was hanging over me like a black cloud and I was never fully comfortable with getting really, really personal (or at least by my standards).  That, plus a few more reasons (ah! too personal), caused me to hit the Delete button and even go back and re-read my previous entries and edit them with a Personal Filter switched on.  I was never too bad about that until recently.

On that note: I've noticed a LOT has changed since I started this.  Even the style of my writing has somehow matured - to be honest I look at my earliest posts and I hate hate hate the way that they're written.  Can't do much about that; can't restart everything since I've put so much into creating and writing and distributing (you'd be surprised at how affective just the one link on my FB profile is).

Perhaps the biggest difference - and one that relates to the first half of this glob of text making everything cohesive - is the shift in topic.  My blog has gone from a ridiculous satire peppered with occasional Matt branded outbursts or rants (still humourous) to something resembling what my diary would look like if I had one (I don't).  I've gone from talking about the idiots on Wheel of Fortune and Katy Perry's boobs to [topics deleted].

(In all reality, though, it really hasn't.  My last two posts were about Ke$h(it) and things I hate.  I guess what I really mean is the concentration of personal seriousness has increased in the more recent postings on my blog, and while it may not have been overly evident, it glared at me in the face)

And to that I vow a change.  I vow to edit my posts before I post them - not only skimming for over personal sharing, but for a nod of approval in the way I've written it (I never proofread my posts hence spelling mistakes or, in my case, horrible writing style).  The biggest of all: I plan to get back to the ridiculousness - I noticed I missed a prime opportunity for commenting on those Glee GQ pictures - but I plan to maintain an overall sense of professionalism and maturity.

All that being said: pop culture / daily life, let's start getting outlandish so that Matt can comment on you.

No comments:

Post a Comment