This would be another addition to my long list of Things I Swore I Would Never Do But Ended Up Doing Anyway, but I’m increasingly toying with the idea of starting a blog. I think it could be a fun creative outlet, and kinda therapeutic. However, I have mixed feelings about writing for an audience. Could be cool, if a little weird.
If it’s going to be a journal of my life, it would have to be my whole life, not just the G-rated portions of it, or I wouldn’t want to bother. For example, my parents would love reading about my experiences in nursing school, but other aspects of my life are decidedly not for parental eyes. I’d prefer not to have separate G-rated and R-rated blogs; I like the idea of one “central outlet.”
In my cursory exploration of the few blog sites I know of, LiveJournal appears to be the best bet because supposedly you can set the “security level” on each individual post. However, one drawback I see to LJ is that your interests are listed right there in your profile for all to see. I’d welcome people that I have things in common with reading and responding, but I don’t want to risk people I know IRL (such as parents, classmates, potential employers, etc.) having certain pieces of information.
Any advice, suggestions or recommendations you can give me to get me on track would be appreciated.
There are better venues out there than LiveJournal, but that’s what I use. Keep in mind that you aren’t required to list your interests and, if you do, you also aren’t required to make them public. I like it because it is simple to use, even for someone who is not very computer savvy. Opening your entries to specific people while keeping others out is also pretty simple. Each entry can also have a customized security level, meaning that the G-rated entries you can leave open (or not) and the R-rated entries you can set for simply yourself, a few people you choose, your friends on LJ, everyone on LJ or anyone at all. Everytime you write a new entry, you set the security level.
I also like that LJ doesn’t have ads everywhere (unless you trade placing ads for more features).
The only drawback is the lack of customization. If you’re talented at CSS, you can make something pretty passable, but the really spectacular journals are those run by paid members.
As for not risking being found out by real people, that’s a risk you take when you have a public blog, no matter where you put it. If you use real names, locations, situations and whatnot, people can find you.
I wouldn’t worry about it. If you think another blog about playing video games, or going to parties, or exercising, or travelling, or political thoughts, or anything is going to attract readership, you’ve got an inflated sense of the audience’s free time.
I heard a quote once, attributed to Bob Dylan. . .“these days, it seems there are more folk singers, than folks.”
There’s gotta be some analogous statement about blogging.
Just start writing one as a journal, if you like. I think blogspot does a nice job. If a couple months go by and you realize that the things you have to share with the world are truly earth-shattering, and original, and entertaining, let some people know about it, and it will catch on.
Thanks, Foldup Rabbit, that’s pretty reassuring. I wouldn’t put anything too scandalous in the public portion, though I might occasionally want to vent about an instructor or even my SO, but I suppose I could restrict access to those posts. It’s also good to know that I can keep my interests hidden. May I assume that even if they’re not listed in my profile, people doing a search for members with those interests can still find me?
So paying members can customize their blogs? I’m no graphic designer (in fact I’m borderline computer-retarded) but it would be nice if it weren’t totally generic. How much does it cost? What are the “better venues,” and are they user-friendly?
And Trunk, trust me, I have no delusions that the world is waiting with bated breath for me to speak. That’s a big reason I resisted for so long. But I figure what the heck, people do read blogs. If my SO’s brother can blog at great length and detail about what he did in World of Warcraft that day, then I can have a MPSIMS-style blog too. If my audience is just my parents, my SO’s family, and a handful of RL friends, that’s fine. Corresponding with new people such as nurses or people who share my interests would be icing on the cake.
Another concern is how much or how little time I would spend on it. I’m afraid I’ll either drop it quickly, or become obsessed, which I am prone to do. Worst of all, what if it takes time away from the Dope? :eek:
I’m not sure if hidden interests are still searchable; if they aren’t, I don’t see a point in having them. Non-paying members can customize their blogs to a point, and I’ve seen a lot of good stuff done on those journals. Paying members, however, have access to more layouts, storage for more images and the ability to override more LJ default settings.
As for better venues, short of buying your own software (like Moveable Type) or going from scratch, I think LiveJournal is the absolute best option. Blogspot is all right to a point, but as a user there I kept being inundated with advertisements and promotions. A lot of the other stuff available also prints advertisements all over your page - something I find really annoying.
For more info on stuff outside the LJ circles, someone else would be way better qualified than I. Once I popped into LJ, I was too comfortable there to look elsewhere.
Here’s another person who swore up and down that they would never start a journal, and now I have one. I don’t update it daily by any means, and I always lock it so only friends can see it. I use no real names.
But it’s kind of fun. It’s a way to let my friends know about interesting things going on in my life without boring them by actually telling them. They can read it or not, as they desire. And it’s a way to hear about them.
Plus I write a lot about the way my life has differed since I was raised in this culture, so I hope someone will find it interesting.
And i always write about my vacations & trips in exquisite detail. I can look back and even see the details on how the cab driver was really nice, or whatever. I like that. It keeps the vacations in my head.
My advice echos much of what’s already been said, but I figured I’d chime in anyway. I’m another vote for LiveJournal.
I have a free account, and some journal layouts are more customizeable than others. You’ll just have to play around with the options until you find something you like – I think I went through 3 or 4 layouts before settling on the one I have now, and it’s still subject to change.
I left Live Journal because there’s no easy way to add pictures with a free account; and isn’t that the only thing blogs have over journals? I like the new Yahoo360 blogs much better, though they’re not very popular yet. Free, though
My blog is eclectic rather than thematic. Sort of like my thoughts…
One I like is Mindsay.com. It’s pretty nifty. It has good security levels. I’m just not sure about it’s profile viewer. I don’t know what all you can do with it - I haven’t used mindsay in a long time.
Of course, if you REALLY want to customize your blog, you’d do it the old-fashioned (hahahaha) way and buy a domain and install greymatter or wordpress (I have done this, and it’s not nearly as hard as it seems…it can get expensive, however, to run a domain).
I had this problem a while back, only moreso. I wanted a place where I could write more personal stuff, but I also wanted a place to write in public about music/medicine/politics/what-have-you. For professional reasons, I needed my public blog to be semi-anonymous.
I ended up with two blogs. One is my long-held LiveJournal, which is now friends only. (Anyone who wants to be added, just leave a comment.) The public blog is on TypePad. Everything I post on the public blog I crosspost to my LJ, using a Firefox extension called Performancing.
As for more general advice, I’d say 1.) try not to agonize over entries, and 2.) try to post something every day.
I know, I said easily added, not impossible to add. Call me crazy, but I prefer not having to go to an entirely different website in order to add photos.
Thanks, Misnomer. It looks like you saw it after I chose my layout and colors and stuff. I was up 'til 1 last night just getting the dang thing started, so by the time I went to bed it was still the bare-bones default. I had a chance to play around with it some more this morning, and I’m fairly happy with it.
With regard to any R-rated stuff…would you settle for PG, at least for now? I’ll give you access to the “friends only” posts. The real hardcore stuff (and if you’re familiar at all with my posting history here, you might have an idea what I’m talking about ) will almost certainly have to be a dedicated blog. If I decide to do that, I might let you in on it…you seem like a cool chick.
Quick question: in the comments on my first post, an anonymous user stated his/her intention to friend me. Does that mean anyone who decides to friend me can view the “friends only” posts, whether I approved them or not?
That’s a big reason I resisted for so long. But I figure what the heck, people do read blogs. If my SO’s brother can blog at great length and detail about what he did in World of Warcraft that day, then I can have a MPSIMS-style blog too. 
If my audience is just my parents, my SO’s family, and a handful of RL friends, that’s fine. Corresponding with new people such as nurses or people who share my interests would be icing on the cake.
I’m another vote for LiveJournal.