One of my favourite daily reads is Cindy Swanson’s blog Notes in the Key of Life. While she may be on the other side of the earth, Cindy is a fellow radio broadcaster so I figure that she must have some good things to say. I always enjoy a visit to her blog.
Today Cindy has an interesting post about blogging styles. She quotes Joe from Evangelical Outpost, another one of my regular reads, who said, Your audience is giving you two of their most precious possessions – their time and their attention. What are you doing with this gift? Are you using it to improve their life, influence their worldview, feed their mind? Or are you wasting it by giving them junk food, blather and trivia which provides a momentary amusement but has only a fleeting impact? What will this person gain in return for loaning you this treasure for 26 hours every year?.
I agree with Joe to a point. The last thing I want to do is waste the precious time that others devote to reading my ramblings, but I think we need to lighten up a little at times.
Cindy quotes a few readers who replied after she first used the quote from Evangelical Outpost. One of those comments was my attempt to outline my ideas on blogging.
Have you ever met one of those people who only talk about ‘important’ issues? They are convinced that they should thrill you with their immense knowledge. They never give you a chance to really get to know them as distinct from their opinions.
Some bloggers are like that.
Most friendships develop out of the kind of small talk that helps you get to know someone. Out of the trivial conversations comes a closeness that gives permission to move on to deeper issues.
That’s the kind of blogger I want to be. I’m not convinced I have the balance right but that’s my aim.
I want people to get to know me. I want them to hear how proud I am of my kids and how wonderful my wife is. I want them to share some of the lighter moments from my day. I want to develop the kind of friendship that allows me to share the deeper things of life when it’s appropriate.
If I was a news service I would need to make sure that everything I posted was important. I would ensure that I was improving lives, influencing worldviews, feeding minds. I’m not a news service. I’m a guy who wants to develop relationship and through that relationship discuss the deeper stuff at the right times.
Of course I do worry about the fact that I’ve just quoted myself on my own blog.
What about you? If you keep a blog, have you thought about why you blog and considered what content is appropriate and which isn’t? I’d love to hear your point of view.
Posted by Rodney Olsen
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Hi, Rodney,
I recently touched on this very topic on a post over at my blog.
I won’t quote myself here. 😉
Good topic.
I guess my aim is to communicate with as many folk as possible – to tell them of our travels so I don’t have to send them heaps of emails.
It’s been good giving an account of the latest BFB ride though there are not that many replies/comments as yet.
hey Rodney,
I just made a quick post a short while ago on why I blog.
Sometimes it’s hard to decide what is appropriate and what isn’t. So I end up keeping drafts of posts and then deciding at a later time if I still want to go ahead and post it. I think the principle that Cindy mentions: “if God is going to hold me accountable for the things I say, no doubt that applies to the things I write as well. ” would be a good gauge.
these are great responses and lend themselves to something i just recently wrote about – there are a couple of bloggers who i enjoy reading, but more often than not, are ending up saying things that i find to be offensive (to me, at least) and then i wonder why i continue to visit with them?
i am linking back to this and when time permits, check the links of your commenters as well.
look at the timing of my visit!
I started blogging to keep up the daily discipline of writing after I left a job as a magazine editor.
I’ve kept blogging because it’s fun, I’ve made friends all over the world, and even in the same city through blogland, it’s a creative outlet – and I can’t help myself. I’ve always been a communicator – and will continue to be so even if it’s not my paid day job.
As for the rules – I love reshaping pigeon-holes.
I referred to this post on my blog 🙂
When I started my blog, I had a lot of grandiose visions about what I was going to write and how I was going to make a huge contribution to the world. For various reasons, most of those things haven’t happened.
However, I’m left with a blog that reveals more about the type of person I really am. Perhaps it says more about the things I truly value and devote time to than the original ‘vision’ would have done. I’m not convinced that this is a bad thing.
I get on tangents, usually current events, things that upset me, and I take to my blog and vent. I think that is “OK” to do.
But I have noticed that the blogs that seem most remarked on, are the lighthearted personal ones.
I think there is room for both. One reason I think blogs are useful to educate. One thing I didn’t know though, is that people wanted to be educated about me.
It’s fun, and I suppose I will continue to blog in any way I see fit.
I did get a nice compliment recently. A journalist, who makes his living writing, told me to keep writing, keep learning, he felt my writings evoked emotion and that he would like to see me perfect that. I have to tell you that was very encouraging.
🙂
Barb
At first, the blog was just a way of downloading all the stuff swirling around in my head. Then I realized that people were READING it! So I decided that maybe God wanted to use all the junk in my life to point others to Him. So I try to do that. But I also don’t want to feel pressured to write about God every day. Many people would be put off by that. I’m still learning how to strike a good balance.