Since I’ve outed myself as an Elderblogger, I might as well share a front-page story about this very blog and yours truly that ran in D.C.’s newspaper for the over-50 set last January. After a bunch of stuff about local bloggers Gabe Mirkin and his wife (he’s a MD/fitness guru), the writer finally gets to the good stuff. (Me, me, me!)
While some indeed rely on blogs as microphones to belt
out long rants, others have utlized them as a social resource, forming
networks between fellow Web users. For example, Susan Harris, of
Takoma Park, MD, was seeking a new forum to discuss her favorite hobby
- in this case, gardening.As president of the Takoma Horticultural Club, Harris, 56, already
published a newsletter for the club that announced upcoming events, and
participated in a regular e-mail discussion forum that circulated to
the group’s 200 members.As her garden sprouted, Harris’ interest grew, too. So she now has a
blog where she writes about her passion and her plants for all the
world to see. Harris proudly notes that her readership spans several
continents. She points to gardeners who, after stumbling onto her
blog, have contacted her from as far away as Australia and Africa. In
fact, when business brings her to the West Coast in the coming months,
Harris plans to finally meet some of her distant online buddies.
On
a curious note, the article describes a blogger who uses his to "keep
in touch with his immediate and extended family, and expresses thoughts
he knows wouldn’t come out in a face-to-face conversation." Yikes,
blog as family therapy? I’m then cited as taking a different tack.
Even
Harris, who says she "can’t imagine" divulging personal information on
her blog, acknowledges that sometimes she strays from horticulture,
instead speaking about other areas like architecture, movies and books."It’s a wonderful platform. Even in a subject matter blog, you can
use [the first person]. The language is different," she added.Audience becomes especially important for bloggers like Harris who
enjoy getting reader feedback, as they tailor both their style and
content to match what they expect readers to enjoy. Many bloggers cite
the emphasis on the community of readers as a driving force that
brought them to the so-called blogosphere.
So, fellow bloggers, before you weigh in with your reactions, let me say this about all that:
- What a riot to see me contrasted with people who "belt out long rants." HAHAHAHA.
- I still LOVE the international connections we’re all making here and whatever happened to my African commenter? More, please.
- I still haven’t met any out-of-town gardenbloggers or gone to LA
but I expect to visit family there in January - and possibly stage a
meet-up with my buddy Amy! Anybody else who might be there then?? - About my inability to "imagine" indulving personal information,
looks like I got caught with my superiority complex showing! But I’ve
loosened up a bit since then and hey, it’s all right. (My About page over on the Rant felt so daring when I wrote it but it turns out nobody gives a shit.) - And about blog language - I’m loving it more all the time. It’s SO much more fun than J-school verbiage, not to mention garden club newsletters. (I finally gave up that duty last month.) Ditto our freedom to punctuate and use style elements however we like.
- Do I - or any of you - really choose style and content to match
what readers will enjoy? My answer: Sometimes consciously, sometimes
unconsciously, sometimes not at all.
Finally a word about the publication and its writer, a very sharp
guy right out of college. He was living a home and getting published
everywhere he possibly could, and judging by this piece, doing some
good work because I give it high marks for getting the content and tone
just right. But then he blew it at the very end when he gave the URLs
for the blogs he’d written about. The Mirkin blog "can be found" at
such-and-such, another blog "seen" somewhere else, and Harris "prints
hers at www.takomagardener.typepad.com." Excuse me - PRINTS?
And I’d love to give you a link to the whole story but guess what?
While the publication has finally gotten itself on line, all issues are
there except the one I’m in. No lie. Was it something I said?
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Gudrun Smith 09.27.06 at 7:49 am
Thank you for sharing your most beautiful pictures of your garden.
Carol 09.27.06 at 10:32 pm
Yeah, “prints”, oops. My mom wanted to see my blogs and I briefly thought about printing them, but then decided she should have a PC and go online. So that’s what we did. Now she’s an elder-blogger-reader (and occasional commenter). Keeps me honest when I know my mom is reading what I write!
I do enjoy your blog, and even the occasional straying from gardening. And thanks for starting Garden Rant, too!
Heather 09.27.06 at 10:55 pm
As to your last question, I really grappled with this when I started blogging on the Chronicle site. They say that we “reader bloggers” can publish as often as we want and whatever we want within reason (no profanity, no direct profiting from it, etc.) but I still feel much more beholden to my audience (hi you two!) than I did when it was my personal blog. There, I’d do a one sentence post if that’s what I wanted to do. It was more a journal and an outlet than this is for the Chron. Not a bad thing really, but I feel a bit… neutralized by it. So, to answer your question, yes, I do think of my audience quite a bit. To some degree, it annoys me and I feel like I’m not being genuine, but on the other hand, I see where more time and thought in my posts makes them better overall. It’s kinda blogging on Prozac. Fewer glorious high notes, but also less garbage.
Pam J. 09.28.06 at 6:35 pm
Two comments caught my attention. Heather wrote: “I do think of my audience quite a bit. To some degree, it annoys me and I feel like I’m not being genuine.” I think it’s a good thing, a very good thing, when bloggers think of their audience. If you are genuinely thinking of your audience you are more likely to be entertaining. And Susan said: “About my inability to “imagine” indulving personal information, looks like I got caught with my superiority complex showing!” Why? I don’t see how wanting to keep some things private means you feel superior? Or am I missing the entire point? Here, readers, is the reason why blogs can be bad. People like me go on and on mindlessly.
blackswamp_girl (Kim) 09.29.06 at 9:23 pm
Susan, I admit that I giggled when I read: “(My About page over on the Rant felt so daring when I wrote it but it turns out nobody gives a shit.)” It’s not that we don’t give a shit, it’s just that we all know and love you as the rabble-rousing plant enthusiast and all around smart girl that you are! So we weren’t exactly shocked.
I’ve already told you how much I wish I had gone to college and been young back when you could have real adventures and be on FBI watchlists… *insert envious sigh here*
blackswamp_girl (Kim) 09.29.06 at 9:28 pm
Oh, about choosing content with “readers” in mind. I guess that I do this occasionally, but only when something in my garden links to something I was discussing or reading over at someone else’s blog, and I think that maybe I should use this particular garden event to put in my own $.02 on the subject.
[Side note: Blogs are kind of like good old-fashioned porches, no? You sit around on them, chat, have discussions, and talk about gardens and the world around them?]
I admit to going inside and getting the camera with the specific aim of having a picture to accompany a brewing post. I also admit to being too vain to post really ugly pictures. I have not taken a picture of something I wanted to use as the subject of a post because there was a pile of dead Christmas tree in front of it… in July. (Hey, it was marked for burning in fall campfires, okay?! lol.
I need to get to sleep. I’ve been working too much, so I’m tired, and when I’m tired I ramble on… like I just did. Am. Argh.