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5 Myths Of Personal Blogs

Posted in Online by Bes on Feb 20, 2007

Personal blogs are probably the most common types of blogs you see everyday. While it may be easy to write about something personal in your life, it is hard to avoid the myths that people believe in when it comes to writing personal blogs. In this article I will talk about 5 myths that many personal bloggers believe in, and I will also talk about the dangers of believing such myths.

I started my site by writing about personal things combined with different topics, and I still try do the same as I feel comfortable writing about things I have myself experienced or learned. Following are 5 Personal Blogging Myths that I see people believing in almost every day; some of these things I used to believe myself too. I hope this list can help you realize why such myths are not what actually happens in the personal blogging world.

5 Personal Blogging Myths

  1. “Everyone online will help me with my problems“

    Many people post their personal problems online in order to get emotional support. They assume that online comments mean that all the commentors care. This is sometimes not the case. Sometimes people leave comments simply to gain more popularity. Do not expect emotional help from all the people you meet on the internet, or else you will be emotionally drained and depressed when you do not receive comments on posts that may be extremely important to you.

    People may simply be reading your blog in order to pass time without any headaches. Such people may leave nice comments innocently without thinking about how you will treat such comments. If someone offers to help or know more about your life, consider yourself lucky, the same way you would feel lucky offline if someone wanted to know more about your life as a friend.

  2. “I post a lot on my site, so I know how to socialize!! Take that you depressing speech professors!!!“

    Many people think that posting on the internet means they are good at socializing with others. While this may be the case, many people who post a lot of personal things on the internet do so because they are usually hesitant to express anything to others in real life.

    Use your blog to express yourself and try to use your blog as a way to socialize more in real life instead of considering online communication as a replacement to real world communication. Do not assume something you do online to be a form of compensation for something you cannot do offline unless you realize what you lack and what you are comfortable with.

  3. “Telling people online to go f%^& themselves makes me so cool and hotttt!!“

    Many people love insulting others all the time on their personal blogs. Just because you can use the “F” word repeatedly does not mean you are cool and strong. The internet enables even the weakest of living things to appear strong through monitors, so it is a good thing to realize whether the power you express criticizing someone online will be the there to back you up if you were to criticize that same individual in person. The trend of insulting others all the time by showing yourself to be more intelligent only shows how narrow-minded and sensitive you are about your own shortcomings.

    Be cool instead of acting cool. Try avoiding insulting other people simply to appear cool. If you really are an amazing person, other people will realize that on their own without you dictating such a thought to them through your insulting and criticizing of others.

  4. “Uuu don’t like what I write about?? GO DIE BI%$#!“

    I am seeing an increasing trend where many personal blogs are starting to tell viewers to “get lost” if they do not agree with something. Such personal blogs are run by people who usually complain about not being taken seriously in life while they themselves do not acknowledge that different people can have different opinions online.

    Respect is earned, not taken by force. Show your maturity and open-mindedness by acknowledging that others can disagree with you. Respect people even if you do not respect their opinions. Always try to avoid taking extra steps to insult someone on purpose. If you say something like “i don’t care what u think!! if u don’t agree to what I have 2 say, get lost looooser!!“, it makes people wonder why you get upset over any disagreeing comments. If you really do not care about what people think, you would not be caring about any disagreeing comments you may receive. Do not let disagreeing comments dictate your emotions. Otherwise, you make it easy for people to control your emotions.

    If I can make you so upset by simply leaving one comment on your site, imagine how much control I can have over your emotions if you were to ever run into me in real life. Refrain from taking things personally when someone disagrees with you. If you really get upset over a comment, try to disagree with the comment and not the person who commented. Regardless of people being right or wrong, if you get upset over anyone who disagrees with you, it means you cannot co-exist with people who can think differently than you. That is a handicap in my view, as there may always be someone who will disagree with what you say. Get rid of such a handicap before it destroys not only your blog but your emotions also.

  5. “This is MY personal blog u idiot!! I can blog about anything in any manner i want!!“

    The biggest myth that I see floating around personal blogs is that personal bloggers can blog about anything in any form they want. Yes, you can blog about anything in any manner you want since it is your blog, but only if you do not want people to read you on a regular basis. A personal blog should have at least one consistent thing: the perspective which is being expressed to a reader. Your personal blog is your opinion about things. The most important common element on all of the pages of your personal blog is you. Maintain consistency on your personal blog by talking about everything you mention in your own words and feelings.

    Stick to your specialty and keep adding the personal touch to every post that makes your blog your own personal blog. Otherwise, people will start thinking that you are running out of topics to talk about or are confused about where your blog is headed. If you keep abandoning the personal approach on a more frequent basis, you may start losing readers who feel annoyed and confused by the irregularity and inconsistency in the basic theme of your posts.

Hold on to the good things you have on your personal blog right now and avoid the stereotypical trends and myths that are floating around in the personal blogging universe. Keep improving the ways you express yourself and the ways you deal with outside reactions to your expressions, and you can have a successful personal blog in the long run.

Personal blogging is still growing, so hold on

Like a child, the world of personal blogging is still growing. Personal blogging is also the most saturated type of blogging category out there. It is full of blogs that keep doing random things simply because many people relate personal writing to being random, vague and without any clear focus. Since the world of blogging is still new compared to things in the offline world, the personal blogging dust will someday settle and slowly some personal bloggers will either give up such blogging or move on to other kinds of blogs.

Realizing the above myths will help you realize whether or not personal blogging is for you in the long run, and whether or not you are falling victim to the myths which are starting to become real stereotypes that you can find on many blogs on a daily basis.

What do you think about this? Is there any point you agree or do not agree with? Can you think of any other points that should go along with this list? Thank you for reading.

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[View academic citations to cite this article]
[Hide academic citations]
AMA citation:
Zain B. 5 Myths Of Personal Blogs. The Reasoner. 2007. Available at: http://thereasoner.com/articles/online/5-myths-of-personal-blogs. Accessed March 12, 2010.
APA citation:
Zain, Bes. (2007). 5 Myths Of Personal Blogs. Retrieved March 12, 2010, from The Reasoner Web site: http://thereasoner.com/articles/online/5-myths-of-personal-blogs
Chicago citation:
Zain, Bes. 2007. 5 Myths Of Personal Blogs. The Reasoner. http://thereasoner.com/articles/online/5-myths-of-personal-blogs (accessed March 12, 2010).
Harvard citation:
Zain, B 2007, 5 Myths Of Personal Blogs, The Reasoner. Retrieved March 12, 2010, from <http://thereasoner.com/articles/online/5-myths-of-personal-blogs>
MLA citation:
Zain, Bes. "5 Myths Of Personal Blogs." 20 Feb. 2007. The Reasoner. Accessed 12 Mar. 2010. <http://thereasoner.com/articles/online/5-myths-of-personal-blogs>
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Tags: blogging, communication, list, myths, personal-blogs




9 Comments to “ 5 Myths Of Personal Blogs .” Please leave a comment below, thank you.


  1. # 1
    valerieNo Gravatar (229 comments)
    Twitter: @makuahine
    :
    ( February 21st, 2007 at 8:59 am )

    Let me just take this time to say, “GRRRRRRRR!!!!”

    Reply & quote this


  2. # 2
    BesNo Gravatar (1234 comments)
    Find/Add me at these places: Flickr | MySpace | Twitter :
    ( February 21st, 2007 at 11:55 am )

    Thanks for sharing your opinion Valerie, I really appreciate it. Razz I think your exact quoted feeling expresses more than one can imagine. Smile

    Reply & quote this


  3. # 3
    ChauNo Gravatar (176 comments)
    :
    ( February 21st, 2007 at 9:00 pm )

    Hehe about the first one… I’ve never believed in it, since I know that not everybody reads the whole entry. LOL.

    LOL about the second one… Now that’s funny, I’ve never thought of it that way!

    LOL about number 3…

    Hehe about the 4th and 5th one.

    Those are very interesting myths, and I’ve never realized that until you pointed it out. LOL…

    OT: WHY THE HECK DO I KEEP MISSING YOU?! LOL! One day, we’ll talk on AIM… LOL, one day not sure when… LOL.

    Reply & quote this


  4. # 4
    RonalfyNo Gravatar (49 comments)
    :
    ( February 21st, 2007 at 9:34 pm )

    #1 – Blogging is a lot about developing relationships with other bloggers. Some are out to get only. Some are mostly out to give. I admire the latter.

    #2 – I feel that I can engage people better since I started blogging. I can take offense and criticism better, and am more vocal when something bothers me. I don’t think blogging “taught” me these things per se, but it helped build the confidence that was lingering beneath the surface.

    #3 – Fortunately I have never been guilty of this one. Smile

    #4 – I can totally relate. It’s hard not to get pissed when someone leaves a negative comment. Your response, however, says a great deal about you. Are you mature? Do you have a cool head? Are you arrogant?

    #5 – People can write whatever they want. But should they? I personally am always at odds over what I should and shouldn’t write on my blog. I like the freedom of a personal blog, but I also don’t want to bore my readers to death either.

    Thanks for the post Bes.

    Reply & quote this


  5. # 5
    BesNo Gravatar (1234 comments)
    Find/Add me at these places: Flickr | MySpace | Twitter :
    ( February 22nd, 2007 at 12:12 pm )

    Chau, I am glad you like the post. I know you have not thought in those ways, and that is awesome! Smile You know how to write well and keep users interested, by the way.

    Also, the 2nd point is indeed interesting. Many people think they know how to interact with others simply because they can convey messages to others online through their posts. It takes a lot more to be able to communicate with someone; you communicate well through your blog. We are online and talking now, by the way, finally. Grin

    Ronalfy, your comment is so well written, it explains my post better! Smile Thanks for the detailed points. Yes, many people simply want to take without giving much or anything back. Also, that’s an excellent example of how a blog can help in real life and how something from real life can help in blogging.

    About leaving responses, I used your reaction as an example for my recent post. Smile A reaction sometimes has more power than one’s initial post. It’s good to think about what to write in a personal blog, since even if one has “the freedom” of writing anything, they want to have a purpose. Having a purpose is usually good. Grin I do see your blog is headed in a certain direction; your posts express your views by listing logic that support your views. That’s a good quality to have. It’s also professional.

    Thanks Ronalfy, I really appreciate it. Smile

    Reply & quote this


  6. # 6
    ChrisNo Gravatar (6 comments)
    :
    ( February 27th, 2009 at 9:03 am )

    Having to think that people will help you here..thru commenting is not a good idea.they like to be noticed too..popularity issue..not camaraderie.and its not a form socializing ither too..its just expressing what you like to be expressed.

    Reply & quote this


  7. # 7
    AshwariaNo Gravatar (1 comments)
    :
    ( March 17th, 2009 at 2:58 am )

    Hey thats Great Information about the Myths.

    Reply & quote this


  8. # 8
    StephenNo Gravatar (2 comments)
    :
    ( November 18th, 2009 at 12:55 pm )

    Ha ha! You hit the nail on the head! Great post.

    Reply & quote this


  9. What others are saying about this article elsewhere

    1. The Art Of Reacting To Criticizing Comments at The Reasoner says:
      February 21, 2007 at 10:47 pm

      [...] This is what the famous site “The Consumerist” did recently when people started criticizing it over its habit of using people’s pictures without their permission. Ben Popken, representing The Consumerist, responded back by criticizing the people who did not want their photos published without permission. What was the result? Many people started losing their faith in the site, and the entire image of The Consumerist got a dark stain that will stick around and be brought up for a while. Why? Because such a comment by Ben on behalf of The Consumerist implies that people who think differently are not welcome to that site, something which I discussed in my last article called “5 Myths of Personal Blogs.” [...]

      Reply

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