Why I Read Blogs

"You can read about it in my blog!"

So exclaimed a coworker of mine, to which another coworker said "I'll get on it right away". Of course, he had no intention of reading the blog. Somehow, reading someone else's blog that you know is seen as too, I don't know, sappy, or something. It seems to call into question one's masculinity. For you see, to read someone's blog is a little like wanting to read their diary. And to read a diary is pretty much desperate.

And yet, I read blogs to gain insight that I might get were I to read a diary. Except, of course, so few blogs are about that. After all, how many of us want to complain about a friend or a coworker or a boss or an employee or whomever. Maybe we'd like to rant against our own kids or parents. And yet, because we fear there will be repercussions, we can be less than honest.

But a few simply don't care. They write what they feel, other people's feelings be damned. If they can't stand the criticism, well they can go on home, close the door behind, and have a good cry. Some people want that honesty, the honesty to be mean, yet truthful to others.

More than that, though, a blog, if it's that honest, can reveal what the person thinks, not just what you see of them in person. Of course, that's not always honest. A blog tends to make the person who writes it look good, or at least, avoid putting one in a bad light.

If I read a blog, maybe I'm interested in how the person deals with their significant others. Are they frustrated? Are they happy? Are they going to tell me? At times, I know people who won't even mention their personal lives. To be fair, I don't either, for exactly the reasons I state.

I remember hearing this guy said that all the blogs he ever reads seem somehow fixated on the feelings after a breakup. He never found that too exciting until that one day. The one day where his girlfriend broke up, and then those feelings came to him, and by golly, he wanted to blog about it.

I suppose successful blogs are those that offer advice, or are in a specific field, and not really about people, and their personal lives, even if those are the kinds of blogs I like to read. Even though I say I like reading such blogs, I don't read any on a regular basis. Those few friends that I know who do blog, do not reveal that much about their relationships or their thoughts on it.

I suppose I can't blame them, but it's what I want to read.