Over at the Hartford Courant, Elinor Lipman writes about her ambivalence towards blogging. "What do I have to say," Madama Lipman wonders, "that isn't already out there?"
I have often wondered the same thing myself. There's something very narcissistic about a blog; you gotta believe what you have to say is worth hearing, and frankly, most of the time it's not. Everyone's got an opinion these days--the world, blogosphere and meatspace--is alive with the chattering of zillions of opines. Why should anyone care what I think?
But, clearly, in my case, narcissism has won out.
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4 comments:
And I'm so very glad it has! Thank you for enlivening my lunch hour (which tends to last a little longer than my boss thinks, but mum's the word, eh?)
We care, we care!!
I've been thinking about this (and will probably post about it at some point in the nearish future) in the context of Lewis Hyde's book about art and gift economies (off a recommendation from Terri Windling based on Lethem's recent copyright escapades)... For me, at least, blogging fits into the gift category, I think. It's something I'm putting out there without the formal expectation of any return. I believe this is the only reason I've been able to keep it up so long -- otherwise I'd be totally burnt out.
I'm not familiar with Lewis Hyde's book, but I'll check it out--it sounds interesting. I certainly agree that blogging is something to be done with no expectation of return. But sometimes it seems like the world is just full of so much noise these days--I wonder why I'm adding to the din! I've tried to set the tone of my posts as informative rather than opinion only, but it's hard not to let opinion creep in. I think your blog does a fabulous job of mixing information & opinion together--but it must be very time-consuming to gather all that information together! I'm too darn lazy; it's easier to spout off!
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