Wednesday 5 November 2014

Why Do We Do It?

I was on one of my Facebook groups the other day when a woman posted the following: "I'm leaving the group, I share loads of photos of the things I make and nobody bothers to like or comment on them and I've had enough!"

Now the last time I saw behaviour like that it was down the sweetie aisle in the supermarket and the culprit was a toddler and not a grown woman!  I did wonder if she threw tantrums like that in real life or just saved them for the online community :)

Unfortunately I've been seeing more and more posts like this and it got me questioning why we do things like share photos of things we've made or run a blog. 

Why do I read blogs was an easy question to answer, I read them because I'm nosey and love a peak at other people's lives, I love the inspiration I get from them and I'm almost certain that the people on the blogs I do visit would never stop just because they don't get comments.
For 12 years my dad lived with a dwindling memory and then no memory at all because of Alzheimer's.  I know that if the same fate should befall me then my memories and the stories I want future generations to hear will all be right here on my blog, in my words.

At the moment my chief photo bomber, AKA Maddie, doesn't really appreciate all of my stories but I know there will come a time when she'll be grateful that I wrote them all down, at least I hope she will.

I have many of my dad's stories in my head and maybe I should share some of them, especially the amazing photos he took when illegally flying too low over London before I was born!
I share my recipes and creations in the hope that someone will be inspired to give them a try, just like the blogs I read inspire me to give things a go.

I share my stories to create a bit more space in my brain for more memories, to stop my "mind palace" becoming full :)

If I don't get any comments on my blog am I going to stop doing it? No way! If someone comments on something I've said or done then it's just a bonus.

So when I ask myself the question "why do I do it?" the answer is easy:
I think most of the people who visit my blog and whose blogs I read will same the same thing but I have to ask the question.....

....why do you do it?

Thanks for stopping by
Jo xx

6 comments:

Sandra said...

Here ... Here. Same reason. I love to read blogs and yes I am incredibly nosy (and yes, I know you know that) ... I do however also believe that if you blog, you should do others the kindness of commenting occasionally. Its not the be all and end all, but if no one ever comments, some people might think no one is reading. I don't comment on EVERY blog I read, or every time, but when I see something I like, I do. I also love the friendship that has grown out of my blog reading, and it doesn't cost anything to leave a kind word. But I couldn't agree more with you .. in this day and age of social media, we don't have to "like" everything we see. That woman was obviously just throwing her toys out of the pram, to get a reaction. Well, it would have been lost on me as I'm not on FB enough to notice lol. But back to your question :) ... I blog or instagram, because I enjoy it. For me, future generations aren't going to care less lol, but its the same reason I scrap, because it makes me happy. And I'm glad you blog, scrap, FB and Instagram ... as I enjoy the peek into your life xxx

Jane said...

great post, I so agree. You've made me want to get back to telling more stories. I love seeing your recipes especially if they are low calorie ones x

Becky said...

What a great post! Yes, my reasons are very similar to yours. I do it for me, to share stories, keep stories and let other people have a nose into my life if they want to! I love to read other blogs to get inspiration and I may not comment every time, but try and comment at least once a week on each blog I visit. I don't mind if people don't comment on my blog, or don't 'like' a Facebook or Instagram post - I do them for me! And thank you for doing it too, as I love to read what you are up to and take a peek into your life and share your stories :)

Sian said...

I scrapbook for a similar reason to the one you give for telling your stories - I understand that. I lost my dad when I was very young and my Mum became very unwell and our childhood became interrupted, so I scrapbook to preserve all the good times and in the hope that if anything happened to any of us the others would have a record.

Blogging for me is slightly different. I started my blog so I could make contact with other crafters. I don't know anyone else round here who makes stuff and so I was looking for a community. With that in mind, I do love it when someone says hello and I can go to her blog and find someone new to talk crafting with. I love a chat and I value every comment I get. But it's really for the chat, not because I'm looking for people to "like" my stuff. A lot of my comments actually come on my story posts, not my scrapbooking posts. I sometimes wonder if anyone is interested in the scrapbooking..but I don't know unless someone tells me.

Course, I read blogs because I'm nosey too. I have to admit it!

Gitte Nørgaard said...

I like reading blogs because the ones I read are about real people and real lives.
And to get inspiration - I love taking bits from here and bits from there and mixing them together to create my version of whatever I'm doing.

Susanne said...

I am much the same as your other readers - I started the blog to share my work and in a way to hold myself accountable for getting more scrapbooking done. I found that I love the writing part as much as the scrapping part. But I can relate to that lady as well, sharing online takes time and you wonder now and again if anyone is stopping by if no one is commenting. So I am always pleased when I hear somebody say they follow my blog even if they do it anonymously without me knowing it. So I hope that those who saw her little fit gave her a little encouragement - maybe she needs it for more than scrapping.