A blog about blogging...
on Oly's Cambodia Blog (Cambodia), 16/Mar/2010 09:12, 34 days ago
Why blog? For me, it’s for two (quite different) reasons.Firstly, selfishly, it’s for me. My blog is my diary, a record of some of the things I’ve seen, done or thought about. I’m lucky to be having so many new, exciting, sometimes downright weird experiences here. But what is wonderfully fresh now will quickly be forgotten or start to seem normal – so I want to recordthings to capture the moment, like taking photos I suppose.So it’s pretty selective, arbitrary, maybe rose-tinted, maybe even fictional – but then the same goes for diaries (and even photos) doesn’t it?As with a diary, the actual process of blogging can be both helpful and therapeutic. The act of putting thoughts into words makes me reflect on things. If I can write them down and make it in some way readable, then hopefully it’s because I’ve managed to make some sense of things in my head.But also, dear reader, it’s for you - it’s not just a diary, it’s a published blog, and the public nature of it is important. I started writing things as a good way of letting friends and family know what I’m up to – so maybe it’s basically just a nicely-formatted group email?Hopefully there’s a little bit more to it than that. For example, in principle you can add a comment at the end and get into a discussion. Unfortunately this doesn’t work too well here on blogger.com - despite being Google-affiliated, it’s seriously difficult to use. If I had a bag of rice for every time I heard ‘I tried to post a comment on your blog but...’Whilst I’m slagging off this site, in answer to the other question I’m often asked: no, I’ve no idea what being a ‘follower’ means. It’s certainly not required in order to see the blog, and I don’t think needed to comment (though you do seem to need a Google account). As far as I’m aware, followers don’t get any kind of alert when a new blog is posted, though it seems pretty obvious that this should be offered. What I can tell you, fairthful followers, is that you do get pride of place at the end of my blog, and for some reason it's made me very happy to see the number creep up froma woeful one to a nicer nineteen...If it makes you feel any better, publishing on blogger.com isn’t easy either – buttons are scattered randomly, photos jump around, and the font / spacing of words arbitrarily scrambles on publication. The technical term, so I hear, is a lack of WYSIWYG functionality – it’s not ‘what you see is what you get’. So, technically, the geeky programmers who wrote this crap should get off their joysticks and make my blog work properly. And probably take a shower and buy some Clearasil whilst they’re at it.The public nature of blogging can also be a dilemma for bloggers– just how honest should we be? Should I name names? How rude can I be about people? The dilemma for me here is real - there are many great things about Cambodia, and perhaps I need to celebrate them more. But there are also many bad things – poverty, pollution, corruption, the bloody roads, toname a few – and I want to let rip about these too.However, despite my end-of-blog disclaimer disassociating myself from VSO (how could they possibly disagree?), it is a tricky balance. How much should I write about the state of healthcare here, knowing it won’t be pleasant reading for colleagues here. I’m planning to write a blog shortly on one of the hottest topics here, corruption - how much should I say? Should I let rip? Or should I be careful, talk rather of ‘good governance’, make sure I don’t embarrass anyone, particularly my kind employers who got me here and are trying so hard to improve things?Well, for now I’m happy to walk the line (not always toeing it). You’ll know something bad’s happened if I don’t keep publishing blogs every week (as I have resolved to do). Or if the next one steers way too clear of controversy and talks about something like dancing – watch this blogspace!