Wednesday, April 01, 2009

April 1st...2009

Snow on April first in Salt Lake City....
I love it, spring is in full swing...snow and all...
It's interesting trying to get people to read your blog. You send a link to your friends, and are not really sure if they even read it or not.
It's kind of like throwing pasta at a pot of boiling water, just hoping some makes it in, hopefully enough to make a meal.
Of course, blogs are personal, but if no one is reading it, then what's the point. You might as well just pick up that old paper journal you haven't looked at in a while.
Sure, people say they write blogs for stress relief, to vent, to relax. In my humble opinion, that is a load of crap. You write your thoughts on the internet so other people can read them; if it was really peronal, you would put them on paper.
Facebook, twitter, myspace; these are all just ways for you to get your thoughts out there for others to read, comment on, disagree with.
It seems to me that we have become a society who yearns to be heard, no matter how pointless the thought may be.
Be it about your new child crapping it's pants, or the state of the economy, we have this need to let people know what we are thinking. Twitter is the worst of them, and yes, I use it.
I freely admit that I am a part of this movement. I want to be heard, I want people to disagree with me, to yell at me, to tell me their opinions.
The fact that I don't see a difference between bleeding heart liberal democrats, and money grubbing capitalistic republicans. Obama isn't doing anything different than Bush did. He talks the talk, but I want to see some actual real change. At this time he is failing, he is pushing for more war, more spending, more taxes.
He had all these big ideas, big words, and big thoughts...where did they all go?
So far our new president, is a disappointment. I hope he can change my mind...

2 comments:

Karenvizzy said...

I read an article once that hypothesized that people blog for social interaction. They want people to pay attention to them anyway they can. So this all makes sense!

Steve Williams said...

This is a good post Tim. I think the questions surrounding why people blog, Tweet, or use Facebook are simple on the surface and all embrace a need or desire for connection, interaction and validation of some sort.

All are the sorts of things that people used to derive from friends and socializing. In virtual environments it seems a lot easier. Less personal baggage in the way. The playing field is leveler and any character traits like shyness or verbal clumsiness are swept away. And you can "talk" without being interrupted.

I've thought a lot about why I blog (or Microblog with Twitter). For me it is not social though I have come to know some people in a vague virtual sense, in blogging I am more interested in the journaling aspects. I have long written in paper journals and continue to do so. But blogging allows me to tap into a creative flow that can be richer than the solitary journal experience. Writing, photography, goals, expectations, and yes, audience reaction was an unexpected result.

Scooter in the Sticks is a project that keeps me engaged on a lot of levels. It is one of those important things that helps me ignore the others and use my time and energy more wisely in general. And I have been fortunate that things have developed as they have for me personally as well as the audience it has gained. I find energy in the thoughts and reactions of others as well as fresh ideas and directions. And all of that is beyond machines or riding.

Anyways, I thought I would share that with you. It is something that percolates in my head often so that I can make better choices about why I am doing this.

Thank you for the prod to further clarify it for myself.

Steve Williams
Scooter in the Sticks