I've been thinking for a little while now about joining and actively working with the BlogHer community. One of my interesting daily (or often times bi-daily) reads is Angella who is part of the BlogHer community. I've read her blog for 2 years or so now and she's funny, smart, witty and just an all-around enjoyable writer to read. I feel like people can relate to her. I feel like people flock to her. And they do...she gets 20+ comments daily!!
How in the world could I be in a community like that? I started this blog to put my own feelings out there. To get them out of my head and onto a virtual piece of paper so that I could stop thinking about them, stop obsessing, or in some cases reflect and remember the good parts of being a mom, a wife, a daughter, a friend. But the blog has taken on so much more for me. It's taken on a creative license for me that I'm kinda missing in my life since becoming a mom. I don't have time to myself to do much of anything, nor do I have the space.
Did you know I used to paint watercolors? I loved it. Was never that great, but I loved it and it allowed me to be creative and accomplish something. But where do I have the space to set up all that? When do I have the time to haul it all out and put it all away, let alone paint?
I love to scrapbook. Again, same problem.
Sewing. Same thing. It takes me 25 minutes just to get the sewing machine set up and then it takes up my kitchen table until I'm finished with that project.
But this. This is something that I can have that takes me a short amount of time every day and requires virtually no space besides my laptop (btw, I love my laptop. I may never go back to a desktop again) This is something that IS me. It's from me. From my heart. I thrive on comments. I beam when someone leaves me one. Silly and immature? Probably. But hey I'm a mom to 3 who rarely spends a lot of time with her husband, sees her friends even less often, and works at a boring government job. Give me a break, m'kay?
So that brings me back to how could I be in that community? I'm not all that funny or witty (although I think I am...which is a sure sign I'm not.) I don't feel like I have all that much to say to contribute to a woman's blogging community. If I give it a shot and I fail (and in failing I'm referring to the commenter-ship that some of the other blogs have attained), what have I lost? Nothing, right? Except I don't fail well. Hell, most of the time I don't succeed well (ask Matt or Chuck. I'm always complaining about how my AFEL team should be performing better even though I'm undefeated!)
So that brings me around to should I keep my blog to myself as my creative outlet or try to open it up to the world and get more and more of that giddy "I got a new comment" feeling. Hmmm, the decisions for an incredibly indecisive person.
ETA: I know that the world can see this now. However, how many people really go out searching to read my blog? Not many, I can be pretty certain of that. But getting involved in a community would be opening myself up for potentially a lot more readers. That's all. :)
16 comments:
Open it up to the world! You've got nothing to lose! You might get a few trolls (aka people who leave nasty comments) but I personally haven't experienced that, so hope it's a rare thing.
Go for it!
I think opening it up to the world leaves a few issues. 1) Anyone can read it and inevitably you will piss someone off with one or more topics. Which will cause you to think about the whole thing. 2) Getting more comments means commenting more yourself. That's just how it works. I've found this out. Tit for tat. So those with a TON of comments, are leaving a TON of comments as well. 3) Negative or unhappy posts don't seem to go down a treat. I find people much prefer happy happy happy! Forget a bad day or worse forget a fucking horrible one!
Ok, that's my two cents lol. I've seen my comments go from being relatively decent to dropping off simply because I don't post like some and I don't keep up with scrapbooking like others. But I love reading your blog, Lisa, even if I don't comment every time and it's most refreshing reading some of your posts and knowing at least I am not the only one in blogland that isn't happy happy happy lol.
Definitely commenting creates comments. Just go to the BlogHer blogs and comment a lot. See what happens, then you can decide if you want to join.
The Blogher community seems like a good one and I've read a lot of good about them. I wonder if they have a theme of the day or something going on tho cause I see so many blogs that appear to be doing the exact same thing. (not that my blog is stellar or anything, lol)
My biggest drawback from even checking it out is the ads. I don't want them on my blog but I've seen some layouts where they weren't that intrusive.
Gotta do what feels right for you though. Lot of really nice folks there (read quite a few blogs with the blogher ads). :)
Nothing ventured, nothing gained - although Christi offers great advice.
i say, try it, see if you like it, if not, we are still your devoted fans, and will read you regardless of where you go!
I am not sure what you mean by "opening it up to the world"
:)
You already have a site that anyone can come across. It is not private, so the world can read it.
If you mean just becoming more active in online communities, I speak from experience that they can be rewarding. The extent of my involvement in the BlogHer community is limited to me having their ads...which are paying for my trip to the BlogHer conference (where I may be on a panel)
:)
There are a number of other online communities, basically one for any area of interest that you have.
One of your commenters mentioned the more comments/more commenting, and it is true to an extent....but now that my posts generate 30+ comments, people don't "expect" me to comment all the time.
I have a family after all. I try to make it by when people comment, but sometimes life gets in the way. I have over 600 readers and there is NO WAY I can comment on every post.
If this is something you love to do, just do it. The rest will come naturally.
xo
BlogHer is a fab community to be a part of. You can't go wrong with joining them. Your blog is already a public domain that anyone can stumble upon (case in point - I'm here :P ) and of all the places to promote yourself, BlogHer is a great choice. They are selective in the blogs they allow, the ads they run and so on. I say go for it!
I love BlogHer. I think you should join and then I think you should come to the conference in July so I can meet you in real life!
I've been blogging for over 3 years and usually only get a few comments per post. Sometimes it bothers me greatly. Other times not so much. I guess it depends on what you want to get from blogging. Me? I'm mostly just keeping in touch with people who know me. If you truly want it as a creative outlet then I say go for it!
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