This mornings (while playing hookie from church) I was visiting other blogs via "Next Blog" (what an awesome invention), and a thought crossed my mind.
Is blogging a more modern form of old-fashioned "pen pals"?
I recognize that there are a number of bloggers who do not reply to comments, and for the most part - I tend to stay away from those (not sure why). But there is a certain repartee that emerges amongst those who share their thoughts back and forth. Relationship struck, thoughts exchanged, life stories told. Doesn't that smack of good old-fashioned correspondence - only with more instant gratification?
I had a pen-pal when I was in high school (well before the advent of computers, and in fact electric typewriters confounded many). I don't remember her name, and I don't remember how out correspondence began, but I do remember she lived in Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories. And we would wait months to exchange lives. Unfortunately, writing wasn't a skill for me, and our relationship lagged and fell away.
So .... what do you think? Is it just me, or do you feel like you have "pen-pals" within this journal-ling world? Only with quicker results.
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11 comments:
I love the dialogue and the exhange. Fascinating things happen. Digging it!
i'm hitting next blog as i stumble across this post! yes, blogging has literally saved my life a time or two when i had no one in my immediate life to talk to. it's amazing what a loyal bunch of readers you can accumulate, and of course, return the favor and the love!
I think You might be right onn this. But to be honest, I wrote the most boring lettres to my penpals :-) I really hope my blog is funnier to read :-) :-)
But I do write mails rather often to some of those reading my blog too. People I´ve never metis now close friends to me that knows more about me than many in daily life does.
Have a great day now!
Christer.
I'm a big time yes on this one as well. Clearly the conversations aren't deep and heavy in the comment section, but that's what email is for.
Still, I think of the comments as water cooler chat. And since I'm with three kids most of the time I don't get regular water cooler chat.
I try to make sure that I respond to all of my comments. I agree with Cardiogirl.
Oh, I like the exchange with the blogs--both through comments and then emails besides. It's much faster and more gratifying than the old days of pen pals, but every bit as fun!
oh yes! though I do miss those handwritten letters and the longing for them to arrive...
that was fun, too.
this, though, is more communal.
So, I read your post a couple days ago. I knew when I read it that I could relate but didn't know what to share of my personal experience.
I am a single mother who usually lives alone w/ a 10 yr. old daughter. I have no family and have moved so many times in the last 12 years that having roots has been nearly impossible. Had it not been for social networks like Face book and now blogging....I would be completely alone. I realized last year that I an not as lonely now as I once was and the reason being is that I have had this outlet....a way of connecting w/ other human beings in my otherwise isolated world. I like the immediateness of it all as well. Texting, emails, face-booking and now blogging...I am never alone. I dig it!
was this too personal? I am having one of those over sharing days!
xoxox Pearle
Pearle - Unless its how you popped a pimple I totally encourage freedom of sharing. We all have different journey's we're on, and we can all learn from each other. bring it one!
When I'm talking to someone in my real life about one of my blogging friends, I refer to them as my pen-pal. I thought I was weird to think that way.
Awesome LJ! I love how you described your pen pal experience as waiting to exchange lives. That is exactly how I felt about it. I grew up moving all over creation and as quickly as I made a friend, we would be up and on the move. So I collected lots of pen pals through the years. Once I became a teenager they all fell away as my roots grew stronger and we stopped moving so much.
I totally think that the whole point of blogging is to build community. To learn from each other, share information, entertain and forge relationships. The comment sections don't really provide quite the feel I'm looking for - though CG's VIP Lounge is close. I just put up a forum on our blog. I hope it turns into something vibrant for bloggers to interact directly.
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