Well...

That last post didn't go as I expected.  But it does lead into more of my thoughts about blogging.  As a Sociologist who studies media and communication, blogging has become an increasing interest for me (you know something I'll research "when I have time").  As a blogger, part of a lively and interactive knitblogging community (who also participates in some feminist blogs, but more on the sidelines), I also spent some time thinking about what blogging means and what it feels like to be part of a subculture.

The knitting subculture is vast and diverse but also has some unique/special elements that I really like.  It is a virtual community that links to real geographical spaces and real people.  Some people you "know" in cyberspace only, others in both worlds and some you know in "real life" but may not read their blogs.  It's also a generous, encouraging, vocal community.  We read the blogs, comment on the posts, participate in message boards and Yahoo groups and also in local stitch'n'bitches and knitting circles.  We knit for charities together, send bloggers secret pal gifts, knit each other socks, swap yarns and patterns, run contests, participate in challenging feats and mix the real and the virtual.

Some of us also share in life's more personal triumphs and tragedies and mix knitting life and social life.  Hell, we even drink together.  There's something unique about it in my limited trollings of the virtual world, and I'm quite happy to be part of it.  Maybe there are legions of other crafters and artists who do this too, frankly I haven't really checked.  But I don't see the same connections in the feminist blogs--people don't plan protests and consciousness raising groups together or make those "live" connections through the virtual ones so openly as in the knitting online community.  And I know what counts as live and virtual is sometimes blurry, but I don't think we've hit the world envisioned by William Gibson yet where there is nt distinction.  I think human connections in the real world matter, even if their beginnings are forged through the internet.

And honestly, I don't think I would blog if people didn't come by and say hello sometimes.  I do my best to reciprocate on the blogs I read which is partly how I maintain the readership I have here.  Blogs can also be about networking and putting in the time to communicate with others, just like other relationships.  Commenting is a way of saying "hey, how are you?" and often makes me click over to the commentor's space to see what's up or drop a friend an email to say hi (because I know not everyone has a blog). 

That's why I find commentless blogs sort of startling.  Sure people can blog without comments--why not?  But if they're just for you and some friends, why make them public or have a comment function at all?  What are people's motivations to blog?  Do they want interaction or just a space to write and think?  Do they want the comments to all be supportive or a space to exchange ideas and discuss and debate or can it just be a free-for-all (I'm good on the discuss/debate part)?  I don't have the answers, but I sure think a lot about the questions.

Comments

[Michelle]

Why do we blog? I think it begins as a personal activity designed to please ourselves. As our blogs are discovered, we begin to find "our voice". I love the comments people leave on my blog. Perhaps those who don't wish to have comments simply want to avoid feeling as though they have to "please" others. Monologue versus dialogue.

[lee]

This topic hits home for me. I started a food blog first and then added a seperate knitting blog because I didn't want to lose any readers that came for the food. I quickly realized that I don't really knit enough to support a seperate blog but I continue sporadically, mainly to keep track of my projects. I wish I had more time to invest in all my interests but blogging about the things you do takes a lot of time and if you get into reading and commenting on blogs, soon you find you're not doing your hobby anymore! (or is that just me?)
On a side note, blogging got me interested in becoming a better photograher and now I'm totally addicted to flickr and haven't spent much time bloggging! I'm enjoying myself though and that's the most important thing, right?

[Lucia]

Way, way late to the party here, but just my $.02 -- I have to admit that I did see why the original statement could have been taken wrong (and I also see that you didn't mean it that way). It's very hard not to measure your worth on this earth by the number of comments you get, and if you are a bit insecure (who among us isn't?), it's easy to get defensive.

I've been surprised sometimes by the number of comments I get on a given post: I'll really like something I wrote but get very few comments on it, and I'll just toss something off and get more. I enjoy responding to comments (what someone said about not always being able to with Blogger), although, to my chagrin, I don't always get to all of them even though I don't get all that many. I am *so* not cut out for the big time.

I do read and comment on the celebrity blogs and also on lots of just-folks-like-me blogs, and I've gotten to know some great people. I try very hard to keep in mind that, as Cara said, *everybody* feels insecure and needy sometimes, and *everybody* wonders who's out there. And everybody has something to say. So many blogs, so little time.

[terri]

We haven't quite reached Gibson's cyberspace yet, because he was wrong. Real, face to face relationships matter. That's why it so exciting to finally meet online friends in the real world. We can substitute the screen for the pen, but not for the flesh.

[jovanni]

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