Wanted: A Like-Minded Blog Community

Before reading an article about blogging community norms and practices by Vanessa Dennen, a professor at FSU in Instructional Systems,  I never had even considered the idea of blog "communities." (Access the full article here: Becoming a Blogger: Trajectories, Norms, and Activities in a Community of Practices). I had kept a few blogs informally myself but had conceived of a blog only as a sort of online personal news and/or opinion column, not something around which a community could form.

One of my main areas of interest is the concept of human connection--how human beings connect with each other, why, and what human connection does for mental, emotional, and even physical health. I was fascinated to read about how the bloggers were connecting with each other, often under pseudonyms, in a way that they were not able to outside of the blogging community. They shared common concerns, circumstances, and experiences and were able to assuage feelings of isolation through their blogging activities.

The idea that a person may be able to be more honest about who they truly are (at least in some ways) while using a fake name is fascinating to me. After all, "What's in a name?" A lot, of course. There is a lot that hangs on the name of a person who works in a public arena and has to carefully craft her public reputation. Blogging, I have learned, serves as a vital outlet for many to be able to be authentic and open about subjects that are more off limits in their "real" lives.

Reading this article, learning about blogging communities, and especially reading about the experiences of specific bloggers, has reaffirmed my belief that the human connection that happens in the online world is far more beneficial than it is harmful. Now, with social media, when individuals experience a sense of isolation, they can cast a far wider net in an effort to reach out and find others who can understand and empathize with them. That's a pretty sweet deal in my book.

Well, on that note . . . ttyl! I'm going fishing!