Saturday, November 7, 2009

What is the meaning of blogging?

I just read this post by Arfi of HomeMadeS, and it made me think.

What is the meaning of blogging, and in particular of food blogging? Arfi mentioned an 'IN' crowd, and possibly there is an 'IN' crowd, 'top of the range' bloggers, 'award winning' blogs (although I don't think I actually understood what they won, but maybe I am just misinformed...), but are we blogging to achieve status? More friends? Admirers? Money?

Maybe some of us are just blogging because it is fun. Maybe for me this is enough...

What follows is my answer to Arfi, and possibly my answer to myself.

Happy blogging to all

Alessandra

Ciao Arfi,

I try to understand what you are feeling right now, you know, there are so many blogs around, some are so 'professional' (? is this the right word?) that they almost look like magazines but you know what? Many often lack 'soul', and the sincerity of a home made blog (or my understanding of what a blog should be in the first place).

Some are so perfect they almost look scary.

I am not putting down those wonderful people who put a lot of work and creativity in their blog here, not criticizing, and actually praising those bloggers who are talented and/or who manage to pull together a community...

...and sometimes communities become cliquey, and other times visitors have no time, or are too shy to post a comment. I noticed this with NZ visitors in particular, they don't post, but maybe this is because I tend to know well some of my visitors so they send me an email instead :-)

Maybe what I mean here is that it may happen that some bloggers become 'competitive', even envious, looking at who receives more comments and visits, and this may leads us (consciously or unconsciously) to post things to impress.

Yes we should challenge ourselves and improve, could be with better writing, better photography, better topics, but we should always remain ourselves too!

You have a beautiful blog Arfi, come on! I have just included your link to my blog because I think this.

In fact I think that I am going to put a link to this post too, (including my reply) because I think that we should encourage people to blog because they enjoy it!!

If it becomes a stress, if it is done only to 'please' others, it will lose authenticity.

In a way I feel privileged that I can blog for free (thank you google :-) !!!!) and that I can come across bloggers like you. So chin up, I accept your glass of wine and look forward to more relaxing days drinking together and talking about food and life in general, like good virtual friends can do.

XXXXX

Alessandra

11 comments:

  1. I love Arfi's blog - for her great recipes and beautiful photos.

    Blogging for me is about communication and fun. I have a small number of readers, and an even smaller number who actually comment and that is ok.

    There are some powerful bloggers out there with large followings - some even go to large lengths to promote their blog and I don't see why that is wrong if their aim is to reach lots of people. Blog readers tend to look for authenticity, honesty and connection so if a blog doesn't answer those then they will lose followers.

    I have noticed that with the rise of Twitter and Facebook (and their microblogging facility) that blog postings and commenting on blogs has decreased.

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  2. oh forgot to say - I made the mousse from your Sweet As book and have posted it on my blog. If you'd prefer I didn't post the actual recipe let me know and I'll remove it. :) I have attributed it to your book in normal citation processes. :)

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  3. Arfi is such a lovely person with a beautiful soul. We chatted a few days ago about this as we have both been having the same feelings. This weekend I have also posted my feelings. I like your response Alessandra. It has confirmed my own feelings.

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  4. I guess every blogger has to go through this phase once, wondering why do they blog and how do they want to do it... Not easy sometimes to keep things in focus. The most essential is to stay yourself as it is for the real life !

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  5. Thank you for your encouraging words, Alessandra. Truthful about oneself what to write is I suppose the best way to maintain a blog with 'soul' :)) cheers!

    P.S.: thank you Penny and Barbara :)

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  6. Thank you all for your comments.

    Penny, thank you for trying the recipe from Sweet As, very good blogger etiquette to put the source, but as you are a librarian you know this better than me. Thank you anyway, and I am only happy when people try and adapt my recipes. After all they can always evolve in a new recipe!!!
    Barbara, I left you a message, I didn't realize that you felt the same, at the same time...big hugs to all of you

    XXX
    A

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  7. ale purtroppo non ho la forza per leggere quanto hai scritto però vorrei un tuo parere sul post di francescav sulla chiusura di gourmet.
    trovi l'indirizzzo sulla mia blogroll.
    vado a ninna che sono fusa

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  8. Enza, mi sa proprio che il nodo del mio post sia che non e' che ci si deve sentire obbligati a rispondere a tutto...non e' possibile in ogni caso e provoca solo stress. Molta gente sta perdendo entusiasmo a fare blog, sia perche' vengono copiati, sia perche' non si sentono abbastanza 'nel giro'. Mi dispiace per loro, ma se smettiamo di divertirci allora non ne vale piu' la pena di continuare...o no?

    Ho guardato e commentato dove mi hai detto. Il fatto e' che me ne sono successe tante ma tante dal punto di vista professionale che ormai non ho piu' parole :-) ma sul lavoro e' sempre un campo di battaglia, e se deve diventare un campo di battaglia anche un blog, che dovrebbe essere un puro hobby per molti (e qui nel mio caso), allora mi dispiace.

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  9. Ciao ho letto con attenzione il tuo post, e condivido pienamente molte delle cose che scrivi. Io ho iniziato a scrivere sul blog per raccogliere le mie giornate e mostrarle ad amici e parenti che purtroppo vivono a 3000 km di distanza da me. Se c'e`qualcuno che veramente voglio impressionare e` la mia mamma che ogni mattina passa di li a leggere quello che combino. Un merito al blog, quello di avermi avvicinato alla fotografia... ma sopratutto le amicizie, che da virtuali diventano fisiche..
    E ora vado a vedere il blog di Arfi,
    A presto,
    Ilaria

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  10. Ciao Ilaria, grazie per il commento, anch'io sono andata a vedere il tuo blog. E' vero che si possono incontrare persone interessanti!

    XX
    A.

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