Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Kiss-and-tell

When maintaining a blog it's always advisory to watch what you're writing, as you cannot fully control whoever's reading it. So in the back of your mind, there's always this little voice that warns you not to write that or to better edit that last part. How far you're willing to listen to this voice is entirely up to you, but it remains to be said that whatever is posted on your blog, one way or another, people will find out.

I think that's kind of the duality about blogs. On the one hand, you're dying for a way to express your most inner thoughts and since simple paper diaries don't cut it anymore, you look towards a more contemporary way of writing: the internet blog. You write down whatever springs to mind, however mundain or tedious. You write it down for yourself, because you feel it's something you need to do. On the other hand, you're blatantly aware of the fact that almost every person on the planet can read what you wrote. In a way, you want people to read your thoughts and you want them to feel something when they read them. That could be one of the reasons why, at the end of each blog, you can check off one of three boxes (funny, interesting and cool). Stunning remark however, there's no way you can not like someone's blog. It's just like Facebook; they have a 'like' button, but not a 'don't like' button. Does this mean we should automatically be wooed by whatever blink-of-an-eye act someone posts online?

Sure, there could be some great stuff out there, no doubt. I bet many great authors started out with or are still actively blogging as we speak. It's a way like any other to get critical appraisal for your work. Still, you have to wonder just how much of what people are writing is real.

Marshall McLuhan once said that "the new electronic independence re-creates the world in the image of a global village". If this is true, than we should know virtually anyone and know everything about them, seeing as how a village is so condensed and lacks the proper privacy boundaries. But this is not the case. So many of us carry secrets around that are never meant to be said out loud. Everbody has something to hide. All in all, this is not so bad. After all, if we knew everything there was to know about someone, would we take the time to talk to them? Even if we knew what all of their answers would be? I don't think so.

People are always intent on prying into other people's lives. I myself have been found guilty on several occasions for wanting to know other people's private businesses, even if it was just by way of an innocent game of "I never". But that's the point, isn't it? Wanting to know other people's secrets? Wanting to take a peek behind the curtain? To tear away parts of the masks people wear? This little game of kiss-and-tell however, goes both ways. I've been known to ask people intimate questions, while others have tried to do the same with me. Don't know why I said 'tried' here, as they've already succeeded. If they ask me a question straightforward, they'll get an answer from me, straightforward. Those who've asked me that particular question involving the words 'experimenting' and 'bathroom' know what I'm talking about. 

Of course, every day brings with it possible new questions and answers. Should someone ask me the same question every day, I'm sure that, one day, my answer'll change and reveal something else about me. After all, if the world is a global village, I'll gladly play my part of Villager #210255. 

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