The Wild, Wild West of Blogging

I'm pretty new to this whole blog scene, not gonna lie.

I think of blogging as putting ideas and opinions out there on the Internet, with the notion that the readers will (hopefully) find them interesting and entertaining, and comment on them.  Maybe offer their own opinions and ideas, engage in some back-and-forth dialogue with both the blogger and other readers who post their comments.  The blogger responds to any comment that s/he feels merits a response - even a simple 'thank you' for visiting.

Some of those kinds of blogs are linked here, like Prime Time Crime Review, Divorce Saloon, Family Lore, What About Clients, Huffington Post. I get their RSS feeds and check them as often as I can, along with their links to other blogs, which gives me the opportunity to stumble on some real finds.

But some 'blogs' are nothing more than straight business-getting devices. Nothing wrong with that, but how can you engage in a conversation (the point of blogging, I think) when all you're doing is describing your prowess, and nothing more? That doesn't encourage the give-and-take between blogger and reader.  Just a one-way marketing street. Bor-ing.

Then there are the seemingly informative blogs which offer guidance - and then blast away when some hapless  person posts on the site.  Like some of the writers' sites and literary agents' blogs - OMG!  Granted, people who post for comment are exposing themselves to potential ridicule and derogatory remarks, but, honestly, do the wise and world-weary 'experts' have to be so snarky in their 'instructional' critiques? Yeeeshhhh.

Can't say I love the exhibitionist, self-promoting ones.  The "I'm Divorced and Have Sex with Three Strangers a Day" blogs, replete with photos.  Seriously, what do those people want besides attention?  Very pathetic, having no life outside the Internet, because you know they're making all that crap up. And if they're not, it's even more pathetic that they feel the need to share their sordid lives so publicly in order to feel validated. Ugh.

And the abusive ones, you know, where the bloggers, or the people commenting on a post, are viciously critical of each other or of the rest of the world.  Some of these people are delusional enough to think they're being witty, while other people know they're just being jerks but feel protected by the cloak of Internet anonymity.  Every kind of -ist posts like this: racist, sexist, nationalist, leftist, fascist - the IST's who should be blocked by moderators but evade them by posting on the big, highly-trafficked sites (i.e., not this one) with little spam-blocking.  You know which ones I'm talking about.

Then there are the venters. They have an overwhelming compulsion to share their passion or rage (about a particular event, topic or person) with the rest of the Internet world.  Sometimes they seem to be clueless that their emotions are exposing them to ridicule or threats (e.g., the law professor who railed about taxes and listed the details of his family's finances online, unbeknownst to his physician-wife). Sometimes, they seem to be begging to go viral and when they do, they revel in it.  Yikes, don't they get it?

Last but not least, there are the truly inventive/creative bloggers who have something to say or show in a completely new or different way. The Awkward Family Photos, Julie and Julia. What a blast to bump into their sites!  When I do, I forget about all that other the angry chaos out there in cyberspace....... :<)