I have a question, or I suppose I should say a couple of questions.
Why did you start a blog (or why not if you don`t have one)?
Why do you keep blogging (or why did you stop)?
& finally…
Would you consider password protection for certain posts?
I have been thinking about this a little bit the last couple of days, and then Nay wrote that she was contemplating stopping (and this saddened me a lot- so I hope after she takes a little break perhaps she will be back & enthused about blogging)
I promise I will answer these questions at a later date.
Popularity: 8% [?]
I am just a twenty something Aussie girl living in Chiba, Japan with my Japanese husband trying to make sense of the crazy Japanese world we live in! We welcomed our first son in December 2009 (Noah) and a second son in January 2011, 2 months premature (Shion). I am working hard at raising them to be confident, bilingual, happy kids!
I started because I thought I had lots of interesting things to say, and stopped because I stopped thinking of things that were interesting and didn’t seem to have the time or inclination to put into it any more.
And yes – I wish I had thought of password protecting some of my posts!!
I started as a release and means of getting out some of the English words I needed to get out everyday. Some friends at home also said they enjoyed my emails so I thought blogging would be a way of letting everyone know what we were up to all the time – as it happens none of my family and not many of my NZ friends read it!!
I think if Granny K could speak English I would be forced to have password protection for fear of her putting a price on my head. Although, there have been times I would have liked to have written a bit more about family but stopped ‘just in case’ they read it.
I started to blog or journal in 1998, then when the blogosphere blew up, I began to do this actively in 2004 or publicly but only for business and blogged personally since 2003 when the boom started with blogger in 2002. I’ve tried various platforms. VOX, Blogger, Typepad, etc, then I bought my own server (which I am working on converting over soon)– sorry for my long comment = )
From a business perspective there are several potential reasons to blog. But, as always, it depends on what you want. Blogs are no different from channels like video, print, audio, presentations and so on. They all deliver results – but of varying kind. The kind you can expect from blogs is mainly about stronger relations with important target groups, mine was media relations, etc.
Personally, it is a place where I can think, plan and reflect, it is a place to share, rant and bitch about things, it is a place to offer and get like minded opinions on things, people, that share some common interest. Blogging should be something you do for yourself, I use it as a catalog of sorts so I can go back and view places I like, places I want to shop at, share recipes, it is a way to open communications.
For me it is also a way to get rid of demons that have plagued me for so many years, being raped, beaten, choices I’ve made in my life, for that and being able to truly open yourself up gives me a sense of complete freedom. It is also a place a reflection of myself even if at times it is all about me, and it should be, a personal blog should be all about you.
Once you reach that freedom, being able to release and not care what others think in a reasonable sense, blogging becomes therapeutic, it is also a way to keep in contact , and I have met 10 of my blogging friends or more in person, and gain some real true friendships, it is for me a channel.
I started 10 years ago on a site called Open Diary. I found it through a program much like Stumble Upon, until then I’d no idea people were writing — or blogging — online. I’d kept a diary on and off for years, and liked the idea of doing it online.
What’s kept me blogging is the sense of community, people caring about each other, caring what others had to say, offering feedback and advice or just something to say they were there. And partly it’s ego, there’s the quote on my blog about how if nobody notices you, you’re the tree falling in the forest nobody gives a rat’s ass about — so there’s that for me too.
As for private posts. I have done them before and may do them again — they have their place. I think if they become the rule rather than the exception, though, then sometimes it may be necessary to move the blog.
After I first went to Japan I got annoyed by telling everyone I knew in private emails what was new and what it was like and sending pictures that I opened a public blog for family and friends back home to follow me and my new life here. And because of that, I don’t think I’ll ever stop. I know my family really enjoys the stories and pictures and it’s an easy one click place to find them all for people like my parents and grandparents who are very unskilled with the computer =)
I use livejournal and I really wish they HAD a password protection option. I currently write private entries for my LJ friends screen, but that leaves other people, like you, unable to read those. I kinda wish I could change that…but really I don’t write so many that I’d consider changing hosts.
At the time I started, five years ago – just before coming to Japan – I thought blogs were self-indulgent and pretty pathetic. I didn’t read that many back then.
Then I thought the name “jo-in-japan” would be a cool name for a blog and, bored at work one day, I decided to register it but not do anything about it before coming to Japan. I was bored another day at work (see a pattern?) and started blogging about my preparation for Japan and it just continued from there.
I blogged to keep everyone up-to-date on what I was doing, how it was, what I was experiencing, etc. I also blogged to make a permanent record for me and to actually give myself something to commit to. I’m very good at giving up on things.
When I’ve had bad patches here I’ve considered giving up blogging but then I remember why I started it. But then again, I’ve often felt over the last year or so that much that filled with me with amusement and wonder and made good things to blog about in the past are now just too ‘normal’ to me.
It’s a bit too late to start password protecting now. I’ve been very self-censory up to now!
I started blogging as an extension of my journal, and found I really enjoyed it – not just saying what I had to say, but the technical side as well. Now, I only blog to keep the blog alive, but there is so much more I’d like to do with it. I find that because of people in real life who read it (like my husband) I censor myself way more than I’d like, which is part of why I haven’t been blogging a lot lately.
As for password protection, I wouldn’t do that on my blog. I have a LiveJournal account set up, which allows you to create custom lists of exactly who sees your posts, so I have been posting a lot of more private stuff there lately (and although my husband has a LJ account, he’s often not on that private post list!)
i started a blog because i suck at e-mail. still do. LOL blogging was way easier than writing e-mails just because you put it out there in public. then you go around commenting hoping others come back and leave you comments. because comments? that’s about 95% of what blogging is about.
sure, you can get negative feedback, but for the most part people are supportive, kind, understanding or funny.
i keep blogging to keep my family up-to-date with me and my japanese family.
i have a private blog (invite only), mainly to complain about my husband, but i don’t update it very often…i know there often are fall-outs from some posts, maybe about work, maybe about family or friends, and often it’s over misunderstandings, but if i think something i write will hurt someone, i won’t write about it. the private blog was in response to yoshi saying, ‘don’t write about me.’ during a fight. it right pissed me off so i write about him. but, he’s a good husband so i don’t have much blog fodder, really. LOL
I have an on-again-off-again love affair with blogging. I first started because I loved reading other people’s blogs and felt like such a taker if I wasn’t doing anything myself. Then it basically evolved into a way to keep my family up-to-date with my son. So now I am a mommy blogger. Because my family reads I am not always honest. I don’t want them to know about me being sad without them. So many people know who “medea” is, I needed to create a blog which allows me to be more honest. So I have another blog which is more political and more honest, but it has nothing about my family.
Most of my honest journal-type things go on message boards. I have started being much more careful with what I post on the internet because I don’t want to hurt other people’s feelings the way mine have been hurt.
I started years ago and it was a more secret, weight-related blog. I’ve had a few of those. When I got a bit older and more mature, I decided I wanted a more public blog, and mine was born (although it wasn’t self-hosted initially). It was started mainly so my family (who don’t live near me) could see what I was up to, but quickly I became a part of the cat blogging community, so it’s a bit of both now.
As for password protected posts – no I don’t do them and to be honest, I don’t like them. It’s like being back at high school again with the cliques – you can read this post, but not THIS one because it’s only for special people who have the password. If that makes sense. I understand that some people might want to write private things, but to me, blogs should be either private or public – not a mix of both.
Enny: You will be back- I know you will!!! You & Jen were some of the first aussie bloggers (based in Australia) that I started following almost 3 years ago.
Password protection is good- not something I want to have to do all the time but I am happy it is there.
Katy: You certainly have a way with words!! It is no surprise that you turned to blogging. Good thing Granny K can`t read or understand English because I think you would definitely need password protection!!! hehe
I started for similar reasons originally (ie keeping in contact with friends/family without writing group emails or individual emails!)
GirlJapan- Like you, I definitely blog for myself (now)- I enjoy the release it gives me to get my thoughts out. I also keep a paper journal which I write in most days but blogging is differently- while I do it for myself I love been involved in a community.
Jay- Your quote cracked me up!! I can not believe how long some people have been blogging for although I knew it was already a craze when I started three years ago. That said, I knew only 2 people personally who had blogs when I started…Amazing how things change!
Khea- While we didn`t meet through blogging originally it certainly has been great getting to know you better through your blog. I love that your family follows your adventures. My mum did when I was in Japan but doesn`t now that I am home. She will probably start following again once I return to Japan but like your parents/grandparents she is not very technically minded but hopefully she will be fine.
I totally recommend wordpress if you want to password protect some posts but not all and can share it with ANYONE you wish to then.
Jo- I wish I had kept a blog of my first year in Japan! It would be great to go back and read about it now…
I think it is a great memory for those who use it to track what is happening in their travels etc.
I hope you never give up- I still love reading your posts.
Kirsten- That is funny about your hub! I think everyone goes through a stage where they don`t want to blog…I think the mojo comes and goes.
Illahee- I like that blogs have comments too. I love the way people can interact with each other online through common interests (like for us, life in Japan & Japanese partners)
Lucky your hub is so good so that you don`t have to private blog so much! hehe!
Medea- That is a good point about not wanting to hurt anybody by what you say. Anybody can read a public blog which is sometimes a bit scary when you think about it too much.
I think that eventually my blog will turn into a bit of a mummy blog too…..I keep thinking about whether I would start a new blog once I have kids and keep this one going as well but I think I would probably just stick with this seeing as I have my own domain and host now. Might start a new one sometime though…
Katie- I had never really thought about password protection in that way but you made some good points. It stuck with me in particular that you said it was like highschool with cliques etc…I would give the password to anybody who reads and comments…which to me is probably everyone that wants it anyway. I am hoping password protecting my posts does not become the norm for me but the internet can be a scary place and I want to be able to still get things off my chest (and get feedback) without having to worry who is actually reading.
I have thought about starting a weight related blog before but in the end I didn`t think I could write enough to sustain it- I am hoping that after another couple of kilos I won`t need weight related posts at all. hehe!
Okay everyone I said I would answer as well so here are my answers…
I started a blog….because originally wanted my family and friends to have somewhere to read my ramblings instead of my emails. Turns out friends and family were not that interested though (although I think some of them are secret readers even now!). I also wanted somewhere to get my thoughts out…and my photos. A friend Suzy got me started after an article she wrote for the magazine we used to work for…
I have kept blogging……..because of all the lovely people I have met and the community I have found. I like having a place to brain dump as well…
I decided to password protect…well most of you know and while i never thought I would password protect it makes sense for me now. Maybe one day I won`t need to at all though…
I started blogging just recently. I had started reading blogs written by other women in Japan and I got addicted to seeing how other people deal with daily life here. I thought I`d start my own blog to share my experiences. Blogging is also a great way to keep my family updated without having to write too many emails. I also think my personality shows through on my blog. It`s MY blog and I`m free to say whatever I want. No need to hold my tongue, edit my feelings, put up with things. On my blog I can vent, share, scream, pout, seek advice, anything I want. And through this blog i have been lucky enough to meet some wonderful people. That`s what keeps me blogging.
I would definately consider password protecting my posts if my brother were to start reading my blog. I doubt he`s be too happy with my `My brother is an Idiot` post. As much as I dislike his girlfriend, I wouldn`t want to criticise him or her on a forum that her could access.
I started blogging when we were trying to start a family nothing was happening….My doctor said after 12 months we might want to start considering other options but not to worry if it took a while to get pregnant. After 6 months I was starting to get impatient and worried – to make a long story short – I’d spent a year of my life in college researching and writing about “artificial reproductive technologies” and infertility and knew that hubby and I were walking a fine line as I approached age 34….Found a great outlet for my frustration and anxiety and found an amazing community of supporters online. Infertility isn’t something that is easy for a lot of people to talk about publicly so turning to others like me in real life was hard to do (hard to find others willing to admit to it and at first it was hard for me to try to tell others what we were facing). I stopped by original blog after having Peanut (yay!) but soon found new life challenges (i.e. moving to Japan!) and started blogging again. I sometimes feel I have little that’s interesting to say, but I’d like to keep my blog alive so I have that outlet. As for password protection, I’ve never felt the need just yet, but everyone has been incredibly nice and supportive up until now. I’m not sure what it would take for me to password protect. Online stalkers might do it.
For me, my reasons for blogging didn’t really have anything to do with my private life. I don’t think my family really reads my blog, and if they do, I don’t really care. My in-laws and my husband can’t speak English and my in-laws can’t even operate computers, so the chances of them finding my blog and reading it are pretty much 0. For me, blogging was a way to force myself to write. I used to be a hard-core creative writer, I did seminars and workshops, the whole bit, but somehow over the years just sort of stopped. I always enjoyed writing, and for me, blogging is a way to put stuff out there publicly, to invite comments and criticism. I’m actually getting paid to blog for another expat site at the moment, and I’d like to get more paid blogging gigs in the future.
So, if it isn’t already obvious, no, I won’t password protect any posts. It would sort of be beside the point for me. And to be honest, there isn’t a whole lot that I wouldn’t be comfortable putting out there. In general, I have a policy of not writing anything on the internet that I’m not comfortable sharing with the world. I don’t really have a lot of secrets so I guess that helps.
I used to Blog when I moved to Korea to keep in touch with people, I stopped because I got a lot of negative feedback from some people. Whilst of course I was writing about my life there I was also talking more generally about the experience of moving to a new country, some people took things to be about them personally which they definitely weren’t and were being interpreted in ways I hadn’t even thought of! those few bad comments put me completely off. I now blog about music only, as I’m an aspiring music journalist, I don’t think I’ll ever blog again about my personal life, I had such a horrible reception! Its a shame because I think other peoples blogs are great!
Yeah, what they said!
I started blogging for nearly all of the above reasons! When I found out we were moving to Japan, I was desperate for any and all information and scoured the internet for hours on end, which is how I found many of the blogs I now follow (including this one!), and now I’m totally addicted!
Like so many others, I wanted to keep my family and friends up-to-date on our lives and adventures, and all those e-mails were getting tedious. Now that I’m blogging, I really enjoy being able to go back and read old posts, I’m glad there’ll be a permanent record of this time in our lives. I’m also an insatiable voyuer (read: incredibly nosey) and I love getting a peek into the daily lives of other people, but like Medea, was feeling like such a “taker” I thought I should add a little something to the mix.
Like Jay, the sense of community and all the blogging friends I’ve made are a big part of why I’ve continued blogging, that and to keep my mother off my back about pictures of the kids! LOL
I wish I had started with password protection, I do censor a lot of what I write b/c my husband and family read my blog, more than once my husband has wigged out about a post and I’ve had either edit it, or delete it entirely. When I started, I didn’t realize it’d be such a great place to bitch and vent! If I add a password now, they’d all flip out and insist on knowing what I was writing about. Maybe it’s time to start another blog, and not tell them about it? Then again, like Rachel, I’d hate to start getting lots of nasty comments or have people be offended or hurt by what I’ve written. So maybe I’ll just stick with what I’ve got.
Hey there! It’s probably too late to respond, BUT I started blogging because I hated sending form e-mails to people who probably didn’t care but who my mother worried would be offended if left out. I started it to record the preparations for my weddings actually and to keep in touch with family back home. I didn’t expect to make cyber friends out of the deal- an added bonus. I now blog only about my baby for my own personal record as well as to update family and friends (and cyber friends). Said baby has really hampered by blogging efforts (and reading blogs is even more difficult). I also like writing and having that outlet. I password protect posts with photos of cute little (but now crying for attention behind me) baby cause of a scare I had where I thought a creepy person was following my blog. I don’t regret that move at all though. I do find I’m losing interest in blogging and facebook is taking more of my time.
I started blogging because it was a way of ‘making’ me write, I used to write something everyday and then got busy or whatever, dried up and I stopped, I thought blogging would help keep the juices flowing.
I have never considered password protection for certain posts, I just don’t post stuff that isn’t for public consumption, I use the phone for things I don’t want to share with everyone;)