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Tuesday, December 08, 2009

Oh Dear, Blog Crisis

It does seem as though there may come a time in the very near future when closing down this blog will have been the best thing to do. The main thing I'd loathe about that is the zillions of posts that'd be lost (unless I painstakingly saved them all. I might save some! Hmmm). I'd miss not being able to post. I'd miss the fact that it's something I've been steadily doing since I was 14. I'd miss it all.
I was thinking about it, and being emo about it, and wondering if, closing it down for PR purposes would mean I was ashamed of it. I came to the conclusion that there is a difference between the way you are proud to portray yourself as an individual--Christian, Family-member, whatever--to people who more-or-less know you or your context, and the way that you would present yourself to people who are just being introduced to you for the first time. Maybe it's the sort of swing-around that happens as a result of suddenly finding yourself under the possibility of being googled by people.
I guess it's sort of like you oughtn't just talk off the top of your head to people you don't know. I would say something different to people who just met me for the first time. Not because I'd hide something or be less honest, but because I want them to understand. I want them to relate. I want to make sense to them.
I started off on this blog with no intention of being read by people I didn't know, or (just to prove how strange and Internet-ignorant I was) by people who weren't in the Family. Whereas I used to be sort of awkward and surprised when people I met for the first time would tell me they read my blog, I've sort of prepared my heart for it and realized that it's really a good thing.
Also, I've since realized, if I'm going to bother writing anything at all, I may as well write for as big an audience as I can. My Dad used to always say when I was a kid that if I was going to make music or write or do anything with one of my hobbies, that I ought to do it seriously and do something that could be used. I didn't often listen to him, because the unusable stuff--the stuff that just comes out and is unedited and untouched and yucky and messy--was the only stuff I really wanted to have anything to do with. You know how it is, being a lazy kid just trying to experiment. But I'm 20, dammit. I don't have as many excuses.
In so saying, I'm thinking about maintaining a presence on the Internet that is as purposeful and relatable as possible. Keeping it real, so that when people see or hear something with my name on it, they'll Google me and find something that explains who I am and what I'm doing, not just a bunch of rambling teenage thoughts. Agreed?

7 comments:

Anonymous James said...

Hey, why don't you just password protect your blog and then you can keep the whole thing... without having to close it down?

12/08/2009 11:51 PM  
Blogger Florence said...

Maybe. Maybe.

12/09/2009 9:05 AM  
Anonymous andy said...

FLO, babay!

That`s a good idea! Password protect this one, then start up another one for your PR face, eh?

I did attempt to bore you with this topic when I met you in Noda.

I feel happy that people are starting to understand how this stuff works. It can be done SO WELL, or so poorly...

YOU are doing WELL.

Probly see you soon at some Christmas function.

ciao!

12/12/2009 12:26 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Whew!!! Glad you're sticking with it, but yes, password it.Just as long as you give me the password - I'd miss you like mad.

That FGA you know

12/15/2009 9:00 AM  
Blogger Abner said...

Florence, first of all, I want to tell you I think it's commendable that you are actually considering stopping blogging (something you absolutely adore) for the sake of professionalism. I agree with Mr. anonymous, that we'd miss you like mad, but perhaps there are some other solutions. For one, what if there was a site made that would bring together some of the best Family bloggers as "columnists" and you were like totally sought after to add your expertise to this project, and what if that project was already in the works (big smile). Anyways, I just hope there's a way to keep you blogging, because I know you're an inspiration to me, and others ... often, so, yeah.

12/16/2009 6:52 PM  
Blogger Florence said...

Oh dear. What is this community of which you speak?

12/16/2009 7:23 PM  
Blogger Abner said...

Just something in the works, not up yet. Anyways, sorry for bringing this up, cuz it's kind of besides the point, as what we're talking about here is YOUR blogging. So, how about a different solution: imagine a blog which wasn't viewable to the public, but anyone (with your approval of course) could register as a viewer of your site to read it. This approach has 2 pros, the first being that unlike a password protected blogspot account where you have to throw around a password, this is a little bit more streamlined, and is like registering for any other site, and secondly it can still serve as your homepage of sorts with some pages visible to all users, and then the blog part only available to those you allow.
If you want something like this, the geek in me would be happy to set it up for you. It would take no time at all so don't worry about it being a bother, and you could consider it your Christmas present :)

12/16/2009 10:30 PM  

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