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Posts Tagged ‘Blogging’

For the mother of a new baby, blogging is likely to be the last thing on her mind. Taking care of an infant is an almost incredible amount of work, and between changing diapers and putting the final touches on the nursery, it seems unrealistic to imagine that there would be time left over for any mother to blog. However, a growing number of new moms are joining the blogosphere to share their experiences during this exciting time of life. There is a whole range of benefits that new mothers can reap from blogging, and the spectrum covers everything from getting through the night to helping distant relatives feel closer.

Among the reasons why, for a mom dealing with the hassles and triumphs of a baby, blogging is a great idea, is that having a blog about motherhood is a great way to blow off some steam. Babies often have very erratic sleep patterns that leave parents up at odd hours of the night, and sometimes the best way to fill those hours is on the internet. Many new moms turn to television to help them weather these dawn vigils, but by blogging through the night moms can turn what feels like a somewhat depressing situation into an actively positive and productive one.

Another reason why new moms often find blogging very satisfying is that it helps them to be a part of a community. For moms who are not able to successfully juggle a full social life with the very tough demands of taking care of a new baby, blogging can be a great way to stave off the isolation that sometimes comes with this stage of life. A baby requires constant attention, and it can be difficult to attend social gatherings or events when you are responsible for an infant. Luckily, the blogosphere is full of other moms in the same situation, and by chatting with them it is possible to overcome some of the loneliness that many new mothers are surprised to encounter.

Of course, for a mom with an adorable new baby, blogging can be as much about celebration as it is about necessity. Having a blog about living with a new child can give mothers the chance to reflect on how powerful and warm the sensation of motherhood is, and sometimes sharing the triumphs of this unique time can make them even sweeter. A blog is a great way to keep friends and family updated with news about your baby’s first words or first steps, and with new technology it is easier than ever to make photos and video clips a part of your blog, so you can give far-away relatives the chance to feel much more involved in your child’s life.

For many years, the act of making a documentary was meant to be an objective act of reporting the sights and sounds that the filmmaker, writer, or photographer encountered. However, in contemporary times there has been a movement towards embracing the subjectivity inherent in the documentary form. This means thatmodern documentaries often reflect the distinctive  voice and sensibility of their creator, and the fact that todays documentaries often revolve around personality blurs the lines between documentary and memoir. Blogs rest somewhere between these two genres, muddying the distinctions even further. Personal blogging, documentary, and memoir are now irrevocably intertwined, for better or for worse.

When it comes to blogging, documentary may not be the aim of most people who spend their time posting their thoughts and ideas on the internet. In some ways, the documentary aspect of blogging is more of a side effect than a primary goal. However, the fact that so many people are interested in publishing these public online diaries shows that personal blogs are about more than just rumination. The fact that bloggers are so stimulated by and interested in sharing their ideas with  each other reinforces the idea that personal blogs are, in some ways, documentaries meant for public consumption. Documentaries appeal to people who are  curious about other ways of life, and many people who regularly read others personal blogs are looking for this same kind of new perspective.

Because today’s teenagers are the first generation of people to have grown up using the internet at every stage of their development, many adolescents have a seemingly innate sense of how to use web technology to express their innermost thoughts and ideas. Older writers often experience a kind of learning curve when they begin to blog, but many young people find that using a word processor and blogging software feels more natural and direct a mode of communication than writing in a diary ever could.

A teenager can invite friends and peers to read his or her blog with a simple email, thereby winning attention or possibly even praise. Of course, with visibility usually comes the possibility of embarrassment, but the fact that it is possible to blog anonymously with an invented handle or nickname negates a lot of the potential for humiliation. Many a blogging teen lives in fear that a parent or guardian will discover his or her blog, but by publishing under an alias a teenager can spill his or her secrets without fear of being traced.

Between the fact that blogs provide young people with a chance to exercise their impressive technical aptitude, to gain visibility without compromising privacy, and to build a readership for their writing without having to jump through the traditional hoops of the publishing industry, it is little wonder that are so many teenagers with blogs. For some teenagers, blogging is even a very social endeavor that allows them to meet people with similar interests from all over the world.

Many a blogging teen has discovered that having a weblog on the internet is a great way to explore self-expression and, often, to win positive feedback from new friends.