I want to post something that is occupying my mind since reading ninjamickey's Thing #7 post. How do I overcome in the blogosphere what spoken language so generously forgives? The mistakes: missed words, inability to spell, tangential thought processes, the randomness (and I argue, joy) of verbal conversation. We refer to blogging as "conversation", but a lazy neo-ludite such as myself finds it disconcerting, even scary to be launched into the strict and merciless world of blogging. Is this the creation of an insecure mind that knows colleagues and admired friends are viewing every mis-spelling and linguistic hiccup? Of course it is. All I can think of right now is how many words I butchered, and how many misused phrases I integrated into this diatribe! And so, how does this relate to commenting on the posts of others? It makes the process a bit forboding, ominous, alarming, terrifying, dismaying, intimidating...o.k., see what I mean? I actually looked in a thesaurus to make sure my list was descriptive enough. Commenting is putting yourself out there. Like my colleagues have pointed out, it is easier to make substantial comments on the blog of someone you know, in the flesh, but much scarier to post to someone who exists only in the great beyond of internet space and time. I know how Rhonda and Salinger and Ninjamickey will interpret and respond to what I post because they are "real", I can read their facial ques, sense the boredom or surprise or disgust in their sighs and eye-rolling. How will a blogging stranger take my typed banter and comment if they don't know my facetious (yeah, I looked it up) inflection and eyebrow raising? I am terrified. Perhaps it just takes guts and practice. Let's hope so.
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That fear is shared, and in some ways, it is also annoying (the fear, not you). It's like email and people taking offense to something because the inflection isn't there--I do that all the time. Hence why we have emote-icons (is that spelled right?)For the record, I would never post here that you butchered something--I would tell you later maybe so you could fix it if you wanted, but when I read posts, I am looking more for the argument / gist / moral than mistakes. But as we are all human, we all make mistakes; I guess some people just enjoy pointing them out more than others. Nice list by the way--some of those words are on my 'favorite words of all time' list.
ReplyDeleteFor those of you who have not had the pleasure of being in the presence of Blakester when she realizes she has a comment to one of her posts, she is truly excited . . . like a little kid on Christmas. It's a beautiful thing. In true Blakester fashion, she attributes only selfish and "self-mastribatory" reasons for her excitement.
ReplyDeleteAs for what you've actually written, I decided a long time ago (during the Nix-en years) that I don't really give a flying rat's bohinney if people criticize my misspellings and grammatical errors. Some might say my writing is a reflection of me and my intelligence/abilities, but I'm much more concerned about how my posts look (my OCD cries for justified alignment) and the content held with in than what some person might think of my intelligence. Last time I checked, it is MY blog and MY comment and since I write for me, screw the unwashed masses.
P.S. I think you're writing is great!:)
I, too, love to see when I have comments on my posts. I have to admit, I skim through my blogs just looking for new comments, and when some of my entries have no comments whatsoever, I'm a little hurt. I've even considered changing the titles of my lonely, ignored blogs in order to capture someone's attention. Comments offer some sort of acknowledgment. It's nice to be acknowledged. It's nice to know that someone actually listens to something I have to say. Moreover, it's nice to know that said someone takes the time to offer some insight about my remarks.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy reading your writing as much as I enjoy listening to you speak. You have a way with words,and your intelligence shines through whether you are sharing your thoughts in person or in cyperspace.
You are doing great and I know others will appreciate your thoughts! I think "practice" is the key!
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