Frippery » Blog Archive » Who Are You When You Blog?

June 9, 2008 | Filed in: Blogging, Daily Piss Offs, Me, Rants

So…a question.

Who are you when you blog?

Are you you, or are you how you want others to see you?

Who do you blog FOR? (yeah, I know, that’s three questions, so deal with it).

When I decided to start this here blogging gig again, I spent altogether too much time deciding who I was going to be. I had a blog a year or two ago, and it kind of ran out of steam. In hindsight? I think it dwindled and became a chore because I wasn’t being me (it still pisses me off that it wasn’t backed up in the right format to import here though. I AM an idiot).

I pondered, should my blogging persona be the sweet and motherly type? The psychotic axe murderer type? Would anyone like me? All of which sounds very I’m-6-years-old-and-must-fit-in-with-the-other-kids. Rather than I’m-just-a-freaking-fruitcake nutjob-with-a-blog and absolutely, totally lame.

Then, I read a bit about blogging and got all concerned with the “identify your brand, and decide upon your niche” stuff. What? You mean I can’t just register a domain name and write about my life (or lack thereof)? And just stuff? Rants? I have to market myself as well? It was all getting to be too much like hard work - I don’t like hard work, and I don’t like to think. Well, not often anyway. You may have noticed.

Blogging seems so involved now. SEO, Twitter, Plurk, Adsense, Stumbleupon, Technorati, people sweating over their Alexa and Feedburner ratings/subscribers, why you should monetise your blog, why you shouldn’t monetise your blog, how to triple your readers in 47.5 seconds, join this, do that, put this in your sidebar, monitor that…fuck!!! Settle down people!! How the hell do people enjoy blogging when they seem to spend half their time doing their heads in over what they should do, or not do with their blog? Panicking because another blog has a particular feature, and OMG, maybe I should too then? It’s NOT high school for fucks sake! Who gives a shit?

My biggest decision when I decided to blog again was whether or not to swear when I blogged, because I swear in real life. Not AT my two spawn, although there are times when I TOTALLY want to - and possibly should, but when screaming at talking to the MOTH, I have been known to drop the F-bomb. I don’t swear at work, but while there I swear in my head (sometimes). One word I have never uttered either out loud, or in the vast expanse of nothingness that is my mind though, is the “C” word. Just can’t quite come at that one. So to speak.

But really, when I am insanely angry, or feeling forceful, or need to get a point across, I do find there is nothing like a good fuck. The word, not the act. Although…

I decided in the end, just to be as much like me as I can. So that’s what I’m doing. Like it or not.

Incidentally, if you go here you can have your blog personality analysed. So go and do it. Now. I’m not meme’ing you, I’m just saying.

Your Personality Assessment
You have a need for other people to like and admire you, and yet you tend to be critical of yourself. While you have some personality weaknesses you are generally able to compensate for them. You have considerable unused capacity that you have not turned to your advantage.

Disciplined and self-controlled on the outside, you tend to be worrisome and insecure on the inside. At times you have serious doubts as to whether you have made the right decision or done the right thing. You prefer a certain amount of change and variety and become dissatisfied when hemmed in by restrictions and limitations. You also pride yourself as an independent thinker; and do not accept others’ statements without satisfactory proof. But you have found it unwise to be too frank in revealing yourself to others.

At times you are extroverted, affable, and sociable, while at other times you are introverted, wary, and reserved. Some of your aspirations tend to be rather unrealistic.

Accurate much?

Anyway, help me make sense of it all. What do you think of this whole blogging thing. Are you a panicker, or do just blog for your own personal satisfaction?

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20 Comments so far
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It gave me the same analysis as you got lol

I think much the same way - I hear ppl talk about niches and brands and “blah blah blah’ starts sounding in my head. It’s just a bit of fun. It’s a bit of letting my brain explode without causing anyone bodily harm. It’s just a bit of sharing things I find funny or ironic or that piss me off with other people who ‘get’ my humour. I really don’t want my blog to get any bigger, couldn’t give a toss about any of the rest of it. Oh and I’m me on my blog. Usually. lol

Bettina: Yeah, I think it’s rigged Either that or we are all unnaturally alike. Clones maybe? Cos that’s a whole other new post….*cue Twilight Zone music*. Glad you/re you, by the way - seems like a cool person to be.

Yup..me 3. Said that same as you LOL

I’d be lying if I said I blog only for me, but I blog a lot more for me now than I used to. My personal blog has changed a bit over the years. I have been there and done the blog for others and fans and stuff. It wasn’t me at all and was just crazy and I pretty much gave it away for awhile.

I am much happier where I am heading now.

Leigh: I think we’re all somewhat aware of how we appear to others, that’s only human, but it’s this total obsession some have with stats, every new craze that comes out, etc etc. How do they enjoy their blogging? I’d just rather mosey along being me. If people are interested, or like the way I write, they’ll come back, if they don’t, it’s a shame, but there you go..

A great article about how we can all get too focused about things like our traffic and rankings and forget about the joy of just blogging.

Also that blog personality analyser is just scarily correct.

Riayn: It’s not only scarily correct, it’s explained by the author of it in these comments somewhere about how the wording is specifically designed to be relevant to everyone, therefore, we all presume it to be correct!
S

Some good questions. It started out as a way to keep in touch, but is definitely more something I like to do now. I do have my known audience when I write, which is sometimes limiting, but usually I just write, and they can just deal lol.

Oh and I got that one as well.

Missy: Yeah, we all got that one, sensing a pattern much?
S

Your Personality Assesment
You have a need for other people to like and admire you, and yet you tend to be critical of yourself. While you have some personality weaknesses you are generally able to compensate for them. You have considerable unused capacity that you have not turned to your advantage.

Disciplined and self-controlled on the outside, you tend to be worrisome and insecure on the inside. At times you have serious doubts as to whether you have made the right decision or done the right thing. You prefer a certain amount of change and variety and become dissatisfied when hemmed in by restrictions and limitations. You also pride yourself as an independent thinker; and do not accept others’ statements without satisfactory proof. But you have found it unwise to be too frank in revealing yourself to others.

At times you are extroverted, affable, and sociable, while at other times you are introverted, wary, and reserved. Some of your aspirations tend to be rather unrealistic.

Sound like anyone you know?
~m

~m: Yes, we’re all getting the same one The author of teh analyser popped in to explain why
S

I think that the analyser is a scam. I have the same evaluation as everybody else and five other random blogs I chose.

Great post. Unless you have a a very solid knowledge niche, you had better have a bit of personality for me to read a blog regularly.

Colin: Yeah, I don’t think I have a niche, unless that niche is me I guess…which sounds SO egotistical! Thanks for the Stumble by the way - I had a heart attack! Well, figuratively speaking…
S

hehehehe mine was the same as well.. Hi Sis..

I will come back and make a proper comment later. (enough rope is about to start)

Kim: I love me some Andrew Denton goodness too. He’s a brilliant interviewer imho
S

OK, so we all blog alike! You seem to have done plenty of research into blogging, I hope you don’t mind me hanging on to the coat tails of someone who knows the deal.

I have been blogging a while, but as a way of keeping in touch with family and friends and it is always written from the perspective of my kids. I am very new to blogging as me, so I am still trying to work out who I am in the blog world, but I am enjoying it so far.

Del: Don’t lose the enjoyment! Hang on to my coat tails as much as you like! I don’t mind at all. Of course, I really have no idea what’s going on, so you may not learn much!
S

Yeah I got the same assessment. Yawn. I wanted them to tell me I was a - I don’t know - stripper or something… something else anyway.

Anyways - as is true of nearly everything - if you are true to yourself you can’t go wrong.

Cellobella: A stripper sounds good. I wanted something mysterious, too. Ahh well. Being true to yourself can be hard, I think…
S

I go through phases with my journal…sometimes I don’t write anything because I’m too focused on making it perfect for others to read (lame-o) and other times I just put whatever comes into my head out there. Of course, when I was losing great gobs of weight and being active every day, there was always lots of material that folks enjoyed, so I have guilt about that, too.

Denise: Welcome! Hope you had a great couple of weeks with TCB!! It is somewhat lame to write to make it perfect for others I guess, but we’re all guilty of it to some degree I suspect.
S

Hey, I’m the author of the “personality analyzer”. If you’re wondering why you all got the same results, it’s the … Forer effect.

Short version : there’s only one “analysis”, and the text is specially crafted to seem relevant to nearly everyone

W-Shadow: Oh very sneaky Thanks for the explanation though!
S

First of all, Suze, you are a total crack up. I was rolling on some of the stuff in here. Also too, I entered 5 different urls in the blog personality thingie and it all came up the same. Do you think the fix is in? And also, who are these 21 people who voted?
WC

W-Chick: The author of the analyser commented below you and said he made it that way deliberately I’m a total crack up? Holy shit, you need to get out more
S

Meh, I just blog as myself and if others don’t like it then so what?
I started to get all worked up about comments and rankings and the like but in the end, I started the blog for me and the kids, so I’ll write how I want and blow the niche.

Tiff: You go gurl! Alright! (That was my supportive Oprah persona
S

I admit I swear in real life when frustrated beyond measure but never on my blog ;)otherwise …

1.I am me and I try to stay true to myself.
Plus,a bit of how I want others to see me.
2. I write for myself and I don’t have a niche - I am a crock pot.

Trish: OMG. I never picked you as a swearer. You seem too sweet. Then again, you have a teenager, which explains all. I, too, am a crockpot. Does that mean when we are turned on we go for ages? Or is that just me?
S

LMAO - Great post!! I definitely know what you are saying. I started a blog a few years ago and it went straight to the trash bin as I was trying to do it for other people and really had no idea what to blog about anyway. Then last year I came up with the idea that I could blog about my day to day training but after saying pretty much the same crap day in and day out I got sick of doing that as well (also the fact that it became an incredibly boring chore to write up again that I trained well blah blah blah). I almost gave up but decided (only last week mind you) that stuff it - I am just going to blog all my day to day thoughts, laughs, stuff ups etc and I don’t care who reads it, comments on it or ignores it. So long as it is enjoyable to me and I get a giggle out of it, then I’m happy. I am as loopy as they come and I don’t mind if anyone else thinks the same - my family do so everyone else can join the club too LOL

Barbara: That’s the key though I think. Enjoying it. SO many people seem to stress over every ranking, how many subscribers, commenter. I mean, we all like comments, let’s be honest, but allowing this whole ranking thing to dominate your thoughts, ans what you do with your blog, seems strange to me. I’d rather just be true to myself. Therein endeth the sermon lol!
S

What a bullshit analyzer. Forer effect my ass should be called the Fucktard effect.

I blog for me. And I have several blogs for each facet of my personality. Evyl is as much me as any of the others but there is more to me than just Evyl.

I curse quite a bit in real life but not quite as much when I am on my site. It gives me a place to vent. Being bad can be good for the soul.

Don’t worry about finding your niche. Your niche will find you. Mine did, it’s Pornographic Lesbian Science-Fiction.

Evyl: Oh I’m not worried about finding a niche, I’m just amazed by the people who are so caught up in the bullshit that can go along with blogging, that they forget why they started their blog in the first place.
S

I’m me but it’s more complicated than that. I do swear from time to time, but not so much in my blog. Also there are things I won’t blog about, things I know my hubby wouldn’t want me to talk about, which restricts me somewhat, especially if we’re having troubles and I want to vent!

Also, as you know I did do the blogging thing a while ago (same time as you as it turns out lol) and that petered out as well.
I think the reason for that has a fair bit to do with my insecurities, as I don’t have many readers, so it’s like why bother, no one wants to read anyway.

So, I’m trying again, just to write for myself and I’m probably more honest in the blog in what I do talk about than I am in real life. So if you ever meet me, I’ll be either the shy one hiding in the corner, or the outgoing one trying to pretend I’m all brave and likeable etc lol

Fleat: Where have you been????? Sheesh! Ha! I would be the shy one in the corner, believe it or not
S

Hi there. I got the exact same assessment. I did sort of feel like I was at a carnival having my tarot cards read and the lady was sending out generic statements — you want people to like you (doesn’t everyone?) I did identify a lot with the last line “Some of your aspirations tend to be rather unrealistic.”

And then I popped back over here to compare … and I realized … we had the exact same assessment. Verbatim.

That’s a bummer. But it did spark my twist on a similar post and I linked back to you. So thank you for the post idea!

Cheers!

Cardiogirl: Hey there! Yeah I was pretty disappointed too when I realised it was set up to give everyone the same results. Oh well. Thanks for the linkage though - am just leaving to go and say hi in person on your blog, so put the coffee on!
S

[…] experience Frippery today! She’s a blogger. Anyway she had a really interesting post called Who Are You When You Blog? And I really identified with […]

I blog for me! Ans I have so many blogs I need a whole fucking folder with user names and passwords! Each blog has one facet of me…my main one only comes to within a bulls roar of the real “me”..
I’ll admit to not doing the blog testing thing though..I don’t think they’d have a category that fits every part of me..besides, everyone seems to be #3, so I’ll just go with the flow

As to why I blog, well I love the interaction and I love the way people who do know of my different sites react to each facet of me…people can be very adaptable and they read what’s the right thing to say to each part…fascinating shit let me say!

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Who am I? Among other things I am a mother to two rather large teenage sons, wife to an IT geek husband, step mother to another enormous teenage son, and feeder, ball thrower and companion to an over excited labrador. Jealous? Didn't think so...there's also some more stuff about me here

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