The Dissection of Blogging

I think I'd like to write today about how blogging is not just merely a form of self expression on the net.

Let me introduce the purpose of my blog, for those who haven't been reading this since the day of inception. When I started out with this blog, I had the purpose of writing this blog as an online journal - which also evolved to an area of idea venting soundboard of sorts. I also made this blog so that my friends can keep in touch of the comings and goings in my life, if they were interested in knowing. How it helps? I think my blogging has made my life a bit easier, for me, and also for my friends. It makes relationships a definite free country.

Lets be scientific, specific and rigorous about this, shall we?


#1 For my circle of friends, blogging releases a certain amount of obligation to communicate with me constantly. In a world where people have an increasing number of responsibilities and obligations, adding one more isn't going to help a friend that you do care about, but is simply very busy. For example, if I actually sent out an email to one of my friends, relating to the coming and going ons of my life, lets say, for the past month or week, he is somewhat obligated to reply back. I mean, just the feat of my writing an email means that I'm interested in what he's doing, as well as also wish that he could share what he's doing. If that person didn't reply back, I would be slightly disappointed; I mean, I did spend my time to write out a personal email to my friend. On the other hand, if he replies back, then I'm also obligated to write a personal reply back. No telling how long both of us will delay the turnaround time (goodness, I'm speaking in IT talk) but it will essentially become an obligated waiting game.

#2 Blogging is a tool much similar to the function of emailing is, for work. - as opposed to making a conference call or telephone conversation. By writing this blog and telling my friends about it, I give my friends a free reign and hold on their schedules. If one day friend X decides to see what I've been up to, he simply heads off to this blog, and track back all my posts. If he decides that I'm not worth following up on, he simply ignores my URL and lets it be. The next time we meet, we'll probably not have a lot to talk about, since in the first place, he didn't catch up with whatever it is that I'm doing. If, for example, another friend, friend Y, wants to keep in touch with me, he'll simply log onto this blog, and check out my posts at his leisure - it could be daily, bi-weekly, weekly, monthly - and there would be no obligatory pressure on his part on the frequency of his access to my blog. He retains his freedom to choose whether he wants to update himself on what I've been doing, and in doing so, its easier for him. No pressure.

#3 Blogging gives me the sense of freedom of writing whatever I feel, whenever I feel, anytime, to my liking. It would simply be horrible to all of a sudden write a very long email about, say, the discrimination that I'm facing at my current job (maybe) to a friend whom I haven't kept in touch for several years, but whom I've know to be working in the same line as I am and would understand how I feel. That simply doesn't work.

#4 Blogging gives me the chance to write how I feel, once, and only once. Despite the fact that we have a few selective close friends, relating the same thing over and over to those select people is extremely tiring and time consuming. Imagine telling people you have recently received an award for promotion, or ill news as, you were layed off. Imagine repeating those same things to 10 different people. Doesn't seem as good and you feel like a broken phonograph by the end of the week. Then a few months after, you meet a friend you haven't seen for a while. And you'll have to relate all that happened, all over again, just so both of you can keep up with what's happening.

#5 Consequently, blogging also helps me shift to a lower gear when it comes to (relationship) involvement, lessening the pressure that's already existing for other parts of my life e.g. work, personal ambitions. Its especially true for me since I enjoy a one-on-one conversation more than relating things to a group of friends. One on one dialogue, in my opinion, involves a concentration and dedication towards the person you are communicating with. It has more depth, more meaning, and need for complete acceptance and understanding - in very short words, one simply needs to be fully involved. In this case, blogging actually alleviates me from the pressure I need to exert for one-on-one conversations.

#6 Blogging increases the quality of relationship I have with friends. In actuality, the previous point doesn't lessen the quality of conversations I have with my friends; In fact, it actually makes the relationship far more meaningful this way. Light and day to day happenings are set aside and placed in this blog, and upon meeting, both of us can progress at a more advanced level of inquiry - I don't have to say explain why I've lost weight radically (duh, yeah, right) and I've been doing 20 weeks of gym already and answer inane questions about how I was able to commit to it: for readers of this blog, they simply know that I love doing the aerobics, and love meeting the new people I see at the gym. Face to face, we can simply talk more about these things (or others) in a more detailed level, depending on what the friend I'm with would like to talk about. If she/he wanted to talk about sports and gym, if he read my blog, he would be fairly certain I knew about squats, reps, raisers, latrows. And he will start off from there, instead of explaining me the basics. If he didn't want to talk about sports, he would also know from my blog that I've seen Batman Begins, and I extremely liked it. He could give his opinions without having to explain the whole Batman Begins story before going on to the meat of the conversation.


There's actually lot more, but I think I'll stop at point#6.

I've just reviewed what I've written, and in some ways, the reasons I've elaborated may seem very naive for some. But in any case, I'm quite grateful that I'm blogging, and a few select friends of mine are blogging. I feel and connect with them better, and am very much more aware of what is happening in their daily (thoughts) lives. In fact, I think I know more about them than when I was physically with them way back in the past. I suppose it is also because sometimes when we blog, we speak out more, as compared to when we were together with friends physically. Ideas and thoughts shine the most in your own blog, because eccentric or self absorbed as it may seem, we get to talk and be in the limelight, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365.25 days a year.

Sometimes its when we're alone and given the mic, that we show our true colors - jump on a bed and sing out as if we're the greatest rock stars in the world, or as a kid, we'd pretend we're our greatest heroes - basketball player, wrestler, world breaking marathon runner.

I love blogging, don't you?