Well, my blogging has been non-existent for quite some time. My last few blogs have started with "Well, I haven't blogged for a while..." There are a few reasons for this. When I started this website, I had the following goals in mind: for me to keep up to date with web development technologies to share photos, stories, thoughts with my family and friends to make people laugh to represent me as a person It has always been a very personal project. This site is a good representation of who I am - technical, like to laugh and like to make others laugh, like to share my thoughts and stories with those that are interested. There are a few things that happened that made the focus of my site difficult to sustain. The first thing that happened was marriage. Don't misunderstand, I'm not blaming my wife in any way, it's just that things change when you get married. For example, I couldn't post on my blog "Joe Blow is a real jerk", like I could have when I was single - my wife would probably be appalled. I wouldn't blame her - we're no longer purely individuals; I represent her and she represents me. Those are my thoughts (I haven't discussed them with her) and it makes me second-guess the things that I am able to write. Another thing that has limited my desire to continue blogging is the combinaton of a larger audience with a direct link to my Facebook wall. It's ironic that when you create a blog, you want as many people to read it as possible but as soon as you get a consistent audience larger than your immediate family and close friends, it makes you feel self-conscious and (again) it limits what you can write about. The direct link to Facebook makes it difficult to be totally open since there are acquaintances on my "friends list" that I wouldn't, necessarily expect to be interested in things that I would post on a blog. That last point is quite ironic since : a) that's what Facebook is for and b) having a website that is accessible by anyone in the world would seem much less private than a Facebook post. The difference, in my mind, is that Facebook is more "push" and my website is more "pull". This means that only people that are interested in my ramblings will go to my website to view them, while anyone in my friends list on Facebook will see the same posts. For this reason, I'm breaking the Facebook/website link. After this post, anyone that is interested in my blogging should go to my website http://www.mikemartonfi.com). The other thing that has stifled my urge to post is the fact that my website is diffuse. It covers MS, technical issues and personal thoughts. People that are interested in technical discussions aren't necessarily interested in the other two categories. Likewise, people with MS may not care about technical issues or my personal thoughts. I've made a decision, though, that this website represents who I am as a person and will, therefore, be written about the things that are important to me. Some people that think about bloggers think that they are all narcissists. I don't consider myself as such and actually I'd consider myself slightly introverted. I've always liked reading about other people - their thoughts, their likes, their dislikes, etc. I like to read autobiographies to learn about different people. I don't do it in a voyeuristic way - I hate trashy magazines like "People", "The National Enquirer", etc. I'm more captivated by what a person chooses to share with other people about themselves. Up until a few years ago, I thought most people were like me - that the are intrigued by other people's life stories. I now realize that most people would rather talk about themselves than listen to someone else's story. Anyway, I'm going to start blogging again but (as I said), I will unlink my website blogs with my Facebook wall. For those that are interested in my stories, you can come visit my website. Submitted 3/7/2010 12:14:19 PMComment (0)
