A post about the trials and tribulations of blogging in today’s world. How social media has taken a toll and how audiences have changed through the years. I’ve blogged for a long time and I’ve had to adapt to the evolving world of the internet. Have I done a good job with my adapting? Probably not. Do I oftentimes ask myself questions on this blog in writing and then answer them directly afterward (like I just did above)? Not at all. Will I tell you about my plans for this blog going forward? Definitely. Read on!
The Sweltering Summer Heat
For the past three days, we’ve been trapped within the ugly and seemingly never-ending depths of a fairly miserable heat wave. While Maine can certainly offer cool summer nights that barely reach 60°, it can also offer its fair share of warmth that’s exacerbated by uncomfortably sticky humidity. If someone from the relatively dry area of San Diego in California were to visit right now, they’d probably have a heart attack. As I sit here and type, I’m looking at the thermometer on my desk. It tells me the room temperature is 86° and that the ambient humidity is 60%. Needless to say, I’m sweating and the conditions under which I write are far from ideal. I can hear thunder rumbling in the distance and the residents of two Maine counties, Cumberland and Somerset, are experiencing power outages. I can only assume the outages stem from strong thunderstorms or even perhaps tornadoes. Tornados, while rare, have been known to occur in these parts. Oppressive warmth like what we’re experiencing is generally followed by precipitation and wind that’s not only grouchy in character, but hasty in temperament.
I don’t enjoy the heat. My internal thermometer definitely identifies with the ancestors of mine who once lived in northern Europe; Ireland and the cooler areas of France. I’ve never been at peace while sweating. It annoys me. It hinders my thinking and while it appears that I’m doing fine this very moment, I can assure you I’m struggling. During the sticky summers here in Maine, I dream of the rainy autumn nights of Scotland, walking the sidewalks of Edinburgh, kicking the pebbles that line the sidewalks of the Old Town. I dream of looking out my window at autumn leaves on the ground, sipping from a mug of hot cocoa. I dream of trudging through knee-high snow to our garage where my firewood is held. To soak up the scents of not only the aging timber, but of the concrete floor, the wind from the north, and the cold from above. I’ve told Laura countless times, “I’d rather direct my efforts toward warming my bones than trying to cool them off.” After all, you can always add clothing to stay warm. Once you get naked to reduce your body temperature, you can’t get any more naked. Naked is naked.
My father seems to love the heat. He lives in North Carolina and sits on his lounge chair on his back porch and soaks it up nearly every evening. Laura’s got friends who live in South Carolina who tell her they much prefer the sweltering hot days of southern summers over those snowy cold days of New England’s winters. Between you and me, when people tell us they prefer to sit in their air conditioning while the temps outside reach 96°, I don’t entirely believe them. It’s not possible to enjoy heat such as that.
The good news is that this heat wave is forecast to pass us by within just a few hours. So if we can avoid the storms and the subsequent power outages, I think we’ll be okay. The weatherman tells me the rest of the week looks just fine and that’s music to my ears. I’d like to get back to normal and I’d like my ability to think clearly to return.
I took this photo a day or two before the heat wave began. The weather was fine as was my mood. It’s a lovely shot of Clearwater Lake in Industry, Maine. While you can see part of the image in this posts header, you can see all of it here.
My Blog’s Mailing List
I’ve had a love/hate relationship with my blog mailing list for over a decade. I’m not sure how it happened, but I’ve managed to gather hundreds of email addresses through the years and on the list they sit. When I write a blog post, an excerpt of that post gets sent to the addresses on the list. Those who receive the excerpt have the option of doing one or more of three things; deleting the email straightaway, opening the email and only reading the excerpt, and/or opening the email and reading the excerpt and then clicking through to read the entire post. Sounds like the perfect system, right?
Here’s the rub and this is what plagues my mind while I’m trying to sleep at night. I write about many topics. I write about Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, cooking, and blogging. While that’s fine and good, I know for a fact that Aunt Sue couldn’t care less about Jiu-Jitsu. And I know that Cousin Barry couldn’t care less about cooking and recipes. And I also know that almost everyone who receives my posts couldn’t care less about blogging, economics, or philosophy. So what happens when someone receives an email they don’t care for? They probably delete it without reading it. What happens when someone receives too many of these types of emails? They delete the email messages and also unsubscribe from the mailing list. And when they do that, I receive my own email that tells me it’s occurred. While it’s not as much as an ego thing as it is an “I’m not targeting my readers very well thing,” it’s still an ego thing. And trust me, sending what I feel are unsolicited and untargeted emails to people bothers me. The idea stresses me out. So through the years, to combat this stress, I’ve turned the list on and off and back on again. I’m not entirely sold on the idea of turning it off once more, but I’m leaning toward it. Simply put, I had much more fun back in the old days when I’d write as many posts as I’d like about any number of topics and simply let them rip into the blogosphere with reckless abandon and without consequence. I don’t enjoy worrying myself about whether or not I’m bothering Aunt Sue with my Jiu-Jitsu posts or Uncle Carl with my lawnmower oil changing posts. People who like Jiu-Jitsu can search Google to find posts like mine or simply follow my Jiu-Jitsu category. It’s that easy.
So, to wrap this section up, you might not receive this post in your email. If you’re one of those folks who enjoy my emails, no matter the topic, I really do apologize. I’m a redhead. I’m temperamental and my mood may change tomorrow. Who knows, but I really am sorry. I’d just like to have fun with my blogging again and mailing lists sort of suck the fun out of things.
Social Media & Blogging
Perhaps this post isn’t only a discussion of some hot and sticky weather, maybe it’s also a venue for some type of mental cleansing as well. For years and years, I’ve heard that the “mailing list” is key to any successful blog. “You need the mailing list to have your message reach your readers.” they’d say. While it’s true that readers do receive blog posts via email in this regard, I’m not sure the reward is worth the anguish, as I’ve mentioned above. And I’m beginning to believe the same is true for social media. Fortunately, I’m not the only one who’s creeping toward this type of mindset.
Joe Bonamassa’s Message on Social Media
If you’re not familiar with Joe Bonamassa, he’s only the best guitar player on the planet.
“After sleeping on this, I have come to a conclusion. Last night I allowed a few clowns to cause me to go onstage angry. That is not fair to you, the fans.”
“Also, this isn’t what I signed up for eight years ago. Social media has become such a distraction for me. This place feels like it has the maturity of high school and I fear I am gonna be provoked one day into saying something I might regret.”
“So I’m leaving this wonderful place to the influencers and good-looking. Enjoy it before it destroys your soul. I will see you in real life somewhere down the road and in Riverside tonight. Any posts on this page going forward will not be from me. Thanks for the eight years.”
I’ve seen countless similar examples through my time on the internet. Joe’s not alone in his sentiment and honestly, I think I’m pretty much there too. Life was good when there was no social media. It was also good when blogging was primarily a monologue with a few comments sprinkled in here and there for good measure. So the question is, will I be giving up social media as well? Let’s just say that if I did tomorrow, no one would notice anyway. I have very little presence. I’ve never been one to compete for attention. I do, however, enjoy posting pictures of random things on Facebook and Instagram, just to see how many likes I can get. I suppose I’m not so different than the rest of humanity in that regard.
What’s this got to do with my blog? Well, sharing my blog posts on social media seems sort of like sending them out through email. It’s sort of desperate. So from now on, I don’t think I’ll be doing that anymore. If you’d like to read my words of wisdom, I welcome you to bookmark my blog address and visit regularly. It really is the best way and I think it’ll keep my head screwed on straight.
Journaling
When I first began blogging back in 2005, I quickly fell in love with it. I purchased my first home and shared photos of repairs and improvements with my family. They seemed to like that. I certainly did. The idea of sharing my activities gave me a lift and I found myself on more than one occasion saying things like, “Oh, I can’t wait to share this on my blog.” and “No, I need to take the picture from this angle because it’ll look better online.” At the time, it appeared that blogging was good for everyone involved.
Somewhere between then and now, scavengers and vultures have stolen the innocence from blogging. Search engines and large social media companies have pilfered audiences and followers, dumbed down discourse to a level that’s barely recognizable, and fomented an addiction to their platforms. If you ask me, the age of innocence was much more appealing. It was pure and people needed to work to find content that was worth reading. Blog posts contained actual thought as opposed to one sentence inflammatory jargon.
Anyway, my goal with this blog is to get back to my journaling roots. I enjoy writing and sharing and I’d like to do a lot more of it. I certainly won’t have the time or energy to make every post a masterpiece, but I hope you’ll enjoy reading what I have to share. It’ll be a sort of running commentary of my life. Just remember, I write and photograph simply for the sake of writing and photographing. Not everything needs a purpose. Hopefully though, what I share will make your day just a tad bit more interesting.
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