Wednesday, October 6, 2010

About Blogger Envy

I just got done reading a great article http://thefeministbreeder.com/jealousy-and-the-myth-of-the-popular-blogger/.  Funny because I was just thinking about blogger popularity and how much like high school's prom queen voting it is.  So I was inspired to touch on this subject myself because it's something that I haven't talked about yet and quite frankly the lack of sleep this week is effecting my creativity when it comes to writing.

In the beginning, I will admit...I was guilty of the occasional "Vote for me at topmommyblogs.com" post on my FB and Twitter...but it didn't take long to realize that just as in high school, I'm not interested in popularity contests.  You can be the best writer and most interesting blogger in the world and if you don't convince people to vote, you just don't get that glorious online meaningless title.  The Feminist Breeder said it best, if you write and write well, they will come whether you like it or not.

I am opinionated and I don't believe in keeping my opinions to myself.  What does that mean?  It means a lot of people don't like me.  Funny...I sleep just fine at night!  But it's hard to be a top blogger when controversial statements run from your mouth (or type from your fingers) like diarrhea after a night of heavy drinking.  Gross.  And just a little tidbit of info-I had to type that word 7 times and look it up 3 times to spell it right.  Mmhmm...and I have a minor in writing.  Sweet.

So I'm loud, obnoxious, right wing, opinionated and offensive.  All the makings of uhm...well...NOT top mom blogger. :)  And I'm quite alright with that.
The fact is that I have quit reading some blogs that I used to love because I'm sick of the "vote for me", "i'm in the top 300" (really...top 300?  uhm ya got a ways to go there buddy) and "I only need xxx more voters/follower/twatters/insert other interwebz term here" statements.  With fame comes haters, comes bust outs (remember the Heir to Blair "you ignore your family and talk about the imaginary Blair all the time"  bust out?) and comes stalkers.  I don't mind the occasional bash over the head but I prefer the flowery lovey comments that I get most often.

So here's what I think.  Yes I have the clicky thing for topmommyblogs.com though my blog isn't currently listed on their site because I have a life and it does not include time to relist myself on there every time they reset their shit.  Yes I have other blogger sites listed on here that I, in theory at some point had an interest in or account on, most of which I'd long since forgotten about.  And yeah while it would be cool to be mentioned on thebabble.com or some other bloggerific site like that, it's not my goal.  I write because I love writing.  I write because I spend 3/4 of my waking hours around kids with no adult interaction outside of Facebook and calls from my husband and parents.  I write because on here I can say all of the things that I think and at one point in time would have said out loud but as a result of spending 3/4 of my time with kids, must file into the back of my head under "think BEFORE you speak".  And sometimes, I write because it irritates people that I have something to say and that people (be it 50 or 4000) think it's worth reading.

I've read Dooce.  I've read Heir to Blair.  I post who I follow because they're the ones I think are worth reading.  I don't care who's popular or who has the most followers.

Write because you want to have a voice.
Write because you enjoy it.
Write because it's therapy in one form or another.

And fuck being prom queen!  I'd much rather be the chick who can kick off her shoes and dance the way she wants to, than have to uphold the persona of perfection all night long in uncomfortable heels and a scalp scraping tiara.

5 comments:

TheFeministBreeder said...

I have the same problem with diarrhea.... you know... about spelling it. Yeah. That's what I meant. :)

I'd also like to mention my Word Verification on this post is "shate." Is that the past tense of Shat? Or is Shat already a past tense? Either way, I find it mildly amusing and ironic.

Vanessa said...

Can I just say "Ditto" and convey what I thought the entire time reading your blog. I too have a click to vote here button, and, uh, duh, I'd love to be ranked because it'd get me new traffic but in reading those (not all of those, but some of those) top ranked blogs - I thought to myself - what an incestuous little click! Not that it's bad to make online relationships and friends, I've done that with strangers and other moms through twitter and I'm glad for that but when you compared the mom-blog-world to self congratulatory high school girls I was inspired to put down the click for me link and walk away. BTW. I totally voted for you for the sake of irony! LOL!

Vanessa said...

Sorry I misspelled "Clique" as "click". so dumb of me!

Abby said...

Clique vs Click in this internet mom world = LMAO

Abby said...

Oh and I THINK "shat" is already past tense though I always preferred "shitted" myself. It's like "fishes", I know it's wrong but its so fun to say!