Look at me ... !
Entering your website in a competition makes you think about what you are doing, and how it matches up to the other entries. Having looked at those in the category of Personal / Family / Blog, I see that some of them are websites, and some of them are blogs, or what are effectively a single page, reading down from the latest entry to the earliest. It would have been good to have a category solely for blogs, as they are so different in style from other websites.
A blog is not a finished thing. It depends, in my view, not so much upon design and layout, as upon content, which needs constant refreshment with new material. This is because it has the appeal of a serial story, a 'soap', or a regular column in a newspaper.
A blog does not have to be ‘on topic’ or ‘on message’ in any way, except as the whim of the blogger dictates. A blog can be a living, growing, changing thing from day to day, wide ranging and full of new ideas and images.
A blog is also essentially an interactive website, a meeting place where people can not only drop in and comment on what they find, but also get to know each other better, and extend the circle of their visiting. In this way virtual communities of like-minded people are formed, stretching right across the globe, and, one hopes, drawing us all closer together in common understanding.
These blog communities can also provide other benefits for the blogger. They can act as a sounding board for new ideas, for experiments in style, and for tentative efforts at more serious writing. I have also found them generous in helping with IT problems, and supportive in times of stress. They can even be treated as a sort of confessional - if you want to take the risk!
This is what my blog is for me:
A playground - where I lark about, relax, and have fun
A stage - where I perform, show off and can play many parts
A schoolroom - where I learn new things and widen my horizons
A party - where I meet people, talk a lot, and maybe flirt a little
A workshop - where I am creative linguistically, visually, conceptually
It is the breath of life to me now ...
2 comments:
Yep, I agree with all of that. It is hopelessly adictive at times. But there are some lovely people out there who make it all worthwhile too!
Fantastic!
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