A blog by any other name is still a blog! :)

I felt about blogging the way I felt about capri pants when they were new.  I felt it was a trend that wouldn't last, and I am essentially opposed to trends, not on a moral level but on a "waste of my time" level.  Like let me see if this passes the test of time, and then I'll engage it more. Well, capri pants and blogging have passed a "relative" test of time... they've morphed a bit, still some people are "trendier" in their execution of these fashions but ultimately they've passed the flash in the pan test of time. 

So, here I am with a blog, and i'm wearing capris and I'm sure I'll miss the time when both of these choices cease to be cool. :)

But in some interactions with other friends, I would say that I'm working out the exact nature of my blog.  It is somewhere between real communication and a "personal memoir" and I feel that the ambiguity of the genre can prevent me from writing at times... am I disclosing myself as a symbol of a whole (expatriate, mother, christian, artist, seeker, learner, reader, etc) and editorializing on personal and cultural topics which relate to those issues?  Or am I writing a sort of mass-email to my friends and family keeping them informed on life and including the more personal summaries of my days and thoughts?  

Here is Wiki's description:

The personal blog, an ongoing diary or commentary by an individual, is the traditional, most common blog. Personal bloggers usually take pride in their blog posts, even if their blog is never read. Blogs often become more than a way to just communicate; they become a way to reflect on life, or works of art. Blogging can have a sentimental quality. Few personal blogs rise to fame and the mainstream but some personal blogs quickly garner an extensive following. One type of personal blog, referred to as a microblog, is extremely detailed and seeks to capture a moment in time. Some sites, such as Twitter, allow bloggers to share thoughts and feelings instantaneously with friends and family, and are much faster than emailing or writing.

I think it sort of matters what you decide the genre is because it affects your view of the audience and what  level of response you are expecting from the audience.   If a more personal mass email, you need more input and feedback from the audience.  If a more editorial comment on your life and the issues that surround you, the blog is more than 50% "selfish" or professional (think journalist); a venue where writing can be personal therapy and/or a platform of personal reflection/ideas. 

One thing I've noticed is that because I think of it as more personal sharing, I'm slightly hurt that others don't respond.  However, I think it is partly my choice to choose this genre and I think the genre itself precludes a more personal conversation with a specific person.  And I do have people comment or allude to things I've written so I do know that it becomes part of my relationship with others indirectly.  And I know for a fact that I really enjoy reading other friends blogs and don't comment or respond to their writings most times; and yet, i do find that by reading their blogs I know the writers better.  

So, my conclusion... I think its important to work through the nature of the genre and make peace with what it is and with what its not.  And I certainly appreciate that it is sort of the "meatier" version of facebook; a way to see more than pictures and comments and see the more fleshed out reflections and commentary of my friends (and random other bloggers who I follow, vicariously living  through their lenses and perspectives)