Out of the 107 followers that follow
me by google friend connect, only one of them knows me ‘in real life’…well, 2
if you count the blogger I met through blogging. It took a while for me to tell
S what the address of the blog was. He knew I blogged and would often ask about
it, but I never let him read it. Now he reads often and gives some good
feedback and post ideas, or tells me when something might bore readers. He’s
more proactive than me in taking photos for the blog as well, almost like
having an assistant.
I’m not sure what it is about blogging, it feels ‘safer’
when there are only random people reading it. Who cares if they have criticism
when they don’t actually know you. They can leave a comment and if it’s nasty
(thankfully I haven’t received any nasty ones), you can just delete it and go
about your day. Whereas if a friend was reading it, they can make a nasty
comment that you will carry for a long time and let’s face it, you can’t just
delete friends and family. It’s almost like opening yourself up to criticism (that
will most likely never happen).
Part of my apprehension in telling anyone I even had a blog is
the fear they will think I am strange or that I am a bad writer or boring.
Maybe I am all three of those and the online world just hasn’t told me yet. I didn’t
want to justify why I wrote something and I guess a part of me still holds
apprehension in too many people known to me reading what I write.
Over time, I have slowly told people here and there that I
have a blog. I usually give them a brief idea of what I write about, never much
more than that. If they’re lucky, I will tell them the blog name, however
usually I don’t.
This past weekend, I mentioned in passing to a couple of
girlfriends that I have a blog. The following day, we were with one of them and
S mentioned to her partner, T that I had a blog. He was interested straight
away and although I didn’t tell him anything about the name of the blog, I
received a couple of comments the following Monday from T. So, that cats out of
the bag because he promised to read it once a week. He’s probably reading this
too, Hi T!!
The feedback I’ve gotten off friends and family that have
read the blog is all positive, so I think the fears that stop me from telling
more people are probably a little silly. In saying that, I just can’t advertise
it to everyone that I write a blog so perhaps for now I will leave it at
telling a few people here and there.
Do you tell people ‘in real life’ that you have a blog? Have
you had any negative comments?
Hi Rhi :)
ReplyDeleteHaha, knew you'd check in!
DeleteMy blog is very new and the only people who read my blog (as far as I know) are a few Twitter friends and (incredibly embarrassingly) my husband! If I ever got a negative comment I'd probably get excited because it means more people are reading it haha. I haven't told anyone else in real life about it, not sure yet if/when I will.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy reading your blog and I think you write really well x
Ha, yeah I would probably be the same. Yay negative comment - interaction.
DeleteThanks for the kind words, means a lot :-)
My blog is an open book - I haven't hid it from anyone Depending who I'm talking to it can be hard to describe what it is about (without sounding like a narcissistic moron) so generally I tell people to just look at it. I have friends and family who look at it all the time and some who look every now and then and some who don't look at all. I've had negative comments too, a few on the gomi site in the very beginning, nothing serious though and nothing I don't already know myself (like the fact I don't enough pairs of shoes LOL).
ReplyDeleteAh GOMI...haha, it's good for a laugh. I will eventually tell more people I guess ha.
DeleteThis is such a good post! I never 'hid' my blog from people IRL, but I never actively went out of my way to tell them about it either.
ReplyDeleteBut then I thought, hey, this is something I've created, and it's something I'm proud of. So now I do tell people! I've only ever had positive reactions too, and most people are super interested in it, and ask a tonne of questions. That being said, I am still a bit shy about it all, and I tend to pass it off as "oh it's nothing". I think because it's an internet thing, and it's a bit dorky? Also, beauty (although that's not all I write about) can be seen as a bit vapid, so I'm scared of that response from people too.
I'm not scared of criticism, I think that when it's constructive it can be really helpful. But I think I'm scared of people thinking that I'm shallow. Even though my blog is all a bit of fun, so of course it's a bit shallow? Argh I don't know! haha! I've met some amazing people through blogging that I'm now friends with IRL so to me it's all worth it.
J is also really supportive, and I think it's great T is too! I love when J tells me he's read something I've posted, or he gives me ideas for posts.
Michaela
xx
Where is my mind?
I think that's why I pass it off as being 'nothing'...I usually think people might not understand or might think it is dorky or strange. The more I tell people, the more I realise I am wrong though.
DeleteI'm with Michaela, I don't actively promote my blog to real life friends and acquaintances, but if they're on my Twitter they would know the URL and check it out if they wanted.
ReplyDeleteI can't pinpoint why I feel strange or bashful when current/oldfriends/preblogging friends read my blog.. cos I'm fine with NEW friends to read my blog!
I don't have anyone 'IRL' on twitter, so they wouldn't find out through that and I don't advertise it on instagram.
DeleteYeah, I am usually ok with new friends reading it too. Strange, hey!
I don't tell my family and friends I have a blog, but I don't hide or avoid it. If it's a conversation and what I do as a blogger fits, or if I have something to contribute, I let them know. I know my family and friends read my blog but they don't comment on it too often. Having said that, some of my closest friends now are the women I've met through blogging and then got to know in real life. I consider them more in-real-life friends than blogging friends, even though blogging is how we met. You just do what feels natural to you. You shouldn't have to feel like you have to be on your guard and not let the 'b' word (blog) slip...time is great for this clarity too. After a length of time blogging and as your blog grows I think you'll make decisions like these more unconsciously :)
ReplyDeleteI think over the past few months I have started to let people know without even thinking I shouldn't.
DeleteI have met some great people through blogging as well. It's such a nice community.
PS as for the negative comments, I have received more negative comments in real life, from people I know and don't know than I have on the blog or social media!
ReplyDeleteFor me I don't really care about their feedback... As long as I do things right in God's eyes and not harming other people there is nothing to worry about,,,, Just go on...
ReplyDeleteI think my friends back home know I have a blog and I have several blogger friends here in UK, those that I didn't meet through blogging here, I haven't told. I prefer the animosity cause I use my blog a bit like a journal at times and there's loads of musing and silly randomness so there is my reason for not increasing its popularity amongst my loved ones, but my bestie follows along and comments when she feels I need it. So it's good to have that support too.
ReplyDeleteIt is nice to have support. I've found most of the people that I've told 'IRL' read it once or twice then forget about it. Suits me! haha
DeleteHow did he find it? That's what I'd want to know! I definitely didn't want any of my friends reading my blog when I was blogging.I heard that one of them searched and searched and was so frustrated when she couldn't find it haha! It was only one aspect of my personality (pretty shallow) and I didn't want people I knew IRL to think that's all I had going on in my head. I did tell my whole family and my dad posted more than a few embarrassing comments that I had to delete! And I would get offended if C hadn't read my latest post quickly enough haha I don't think you have anything to be embarrassed about - you write really well and your posts are interesting, not shallow :)
ReplyDeleteI still have no idea how he found it! I've asked a few times but he won't tell me. S told me he had a google search a couple of weeks ago and used a few words that made it come up. I suppose Rhiannon isn't a very common name, so coupled with my dogs name it might come up. Who knows!
DeleteThanks for the kind words :-)
I don't tell many people that I blog. I am a little embarrassed by it which sounds totally weird because I love it at the same time. I didn't understand blogging until I got into it. So I guess I am fearful that IRL people will just judge me for it. Letting go of worrying about what others think of me is something I am slowly getting better at so keeping it to myself, at the moment, is something I prefer to do. I totally get what your saying though.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Alyson