I thought I would post my post here.
To Blog or Not to Blog….
I was paired with Pamela. She is not someone whom I have had any contact with before now, nor had I visited her blog. And to be honest I probably wouldn’t have ever done. Not that I wouldn’t have liked her or that I don’t like her blog, I do, but our paths would never have crossed. However, through the power of social networking our blogs have been fused. Well for a day or so.
Erica over at Little Mummy hosts a Guest Post Day where we bloggers can put their name down and be paired up with someone they would not normally blog with. Hence, the reason I am here and have been introduced to Pamela’s blog.
My blog is a relatively small blog; I only started in January of this year. However, it has grown quickly through the help of Twitter, British Mummy Bloggers, Writing Workshops and The Gallery. I am not sure I would class myself as a Mummy Blogger. I am a mummy and a blogger so yes I suppose you could say that I am, but I don’t just blog about being a mother. I blog about me, my family, my kids, my interests, my writing and the books I read. Therefore, it’s a bit of everything.
Most blogs fall into one category or another; I’m not sure which one mine fits into. I’m a book blogger, I’m a review blogger, I’m a mummy blogger, and I have a writer’s blog. So who knows? I like my blog, I blog for me. Not to see how popular I am with however many followers I have. Although it is a nice feeling when you get a new follower who posts a nice wee comment. I like to post what I like.
Blogging has given me confidence. Confidence in expressing myself in a way I never would have before. Confidence in telling the world how I feel, just sharing experiences, not for anyone in particular just for myself so they are out there. It’s like a release valve. Once it’s on the blog the world can read it, if they choose to and it’s as if a weight has been lifted off your shoulders. I have shared the problem or the experience but not to a relative or a friend a stranger, who doesn’t know me and won’t judge me but who may offer a little bit of advice of their wisdom. And that to me is what blogging is all about.
One of the best ways in which you can meet liked minded people, new blogs and friends is through Twitter. Twitter is a fantastic way of doing this. For those of you not familiar with Twitter, it is a micro blogging site, in which you use 140 characters of less to say what you want. You can respond to other people’s tweets or direct message them if you don’t want what you are saying made public.
I have found Twitter to be useful resource for meeting new people, new blogs, but most of all I have found friends and support that would astound you. I can ask about a problem I am having with one of my children and there will be several tweets back within minutes, from fellow mothers with advice on their experiences. It is amazing, something I couldn’t and don’t want to live without. I am now addicted.
This post is protected under copyright. SusankMann 2009 – 2014
I love how blogging opens up a whole new world – and funny how your reasons for doing it change once you discover that world.I look back to my first posts and I'd started the blog to post about nice baby products, as a way of recommending them to other parents. Now, like you it's definitely a release valve – a way of letting things go, and puting them in neat boxes, and a way of making people smile, and having that smile back in return when people post comments to share your sense of humour.I can honestly saying both blogging and twitter are a big part of my life, and like you have been astounded by the level of support from new found friends – including you Susan.I dream of being the mummy equivalent of Sarah Jessica Parker!
A great post. I too am finding a confidence through blogging and Twitter I might never have had before. I found it difficult to blog at first as I was afraid to share my writing incase it wasn't good enough but now I find that doesn't matter to me and it is just nice to have this little writing world and twitter community to escape to!