The Daily Snark

I started blogging in the summer of 2008. I had no idea what I was doing, but that was part of the fun.

And it WAS fun! I wanted to write, so I did. Period. I didn’t care about stats—it was a good day if I saw that five people (none of whom were me or my husband) stopped by my blog. I didn’t care about branding, niches, advertising, monetizing, publicizing or any other “izing.” I wrote for me and hoped others would like it.

In that first year, I developed a small but loyal community of people. We would stop by each other’s blogs on a daily basis and comment and e-mail each other to check in. This was in the days of blogrolls. Do you even know what those are?  *Sigh* I miss blogrolls. I loved them. When I found a blog I adored, I immediately searched through their blogroll to find other hidden gems. My blogroll was a constantly evolving list of sites I loved. It was like curating awesome content that I couldn’t wait to share with others. Now I can’t even remember the last time I came across a blogroll and on the rare occasion I do, it’s ridiculously outdated.

The way most of us keep up with blogs has changed. I’m a Google Reader devote—or I will be until July when it goes away. Some people prefer to subscribe via e-mail and others follow their favorite blogs on Facebook. For me, it was easier to keep up on a reader because I can’t have a bunch of blogs up on my screen at work. The reader is a more subtle way to keep track. And, I admit, it’s easier because you can see right away if there’s a new post without having to click on the site.

But it doesn’t mean I don’t miss the blogroll.

These days, instead of commenting directly on the blog itself (which seems to be irrelevant these days—the blog, not the comments), discussions are happening more and more on Facebook and Twitter. I do follow some blogs on Facebook but I don’t link The Daily Snark with my Facebook page—mostly for professional reasons (I try to get some separation between church and state so to speak), but also because I’m selfish. If I write something here, I guess I want the discussion to happen here.

Which doesn’t mean I’m not in need of intervention for my Facebook addiction.

I used to have that same kind of fanaticism for Twitter, but in the past year or so, Twitter and I have taken a break. The endless chatter, general bitchiness and clique-y bullshit turned me off for a long time. Every day there was a new drama, or someone was trying to insert themselves into drama in an attempt to make themselves relevant (no, not me!) and it was exhausting. (Then there are days like today when I’m reminded how awesome and powerful Twitter can be and I fall in love all over again.) To combat that, I’ve started culling my follow list, removing people I was told I “should” follow and started to cultivate a community that more accurately reflects who and where I am today.

At some point blogging started to feel less fun because there was so much pressure to have a niche—and if you read through my archives, it’s pretty clear there is no niche here (notice my tagline?). Over the years I’ve written more openly about stupid shit in my life and marriage, I’ve written endlessly about my dogs, dog shows, reality TV and other nonsensical stuff. Then there was my angst period where I got all meta about blogging. In the past year I’ve written about my journey with yoga teacher training (Can I just tell you—I hate when people talk about their “journey” with whatever. Like, when someone gets booted off of Dancing With Stars and they talk about what an amazing journey it was? Anyway, I digress.)

So why am I taking a walk down memory lane today? This morning I saw a post on Neil Kramer’s (from Citizen of the Month) Facebook page. He asked:

Blogging. Facebook. Twitter. I do not judge. No platitudes or BS.

Talk with other friends? Why not just call them up? Ease your isolation? Get emotional support? Get attention? Change the world? Network with those who can help you in some way? Hide from the children? Goof off at work? Bare your soul? Writing? If so, clearly being online is more procrastination than writing? Or is there some sort of career plan attached — like growing your platform or marketing yourself?

The question got me thinking about why I’ve kept this blog all these years (nearly five years in bloggy life makes me approximately 102 years old). What started as a fun hobby became something more. It became important for me to write here, and the reasons have come full circle. At first it was just a fun way to continue writing after I left my magazine job. I needed a creative outlet and thought it would be a fun way to keep writing and I fell in I love with the community of bloggers. Eventually, I got sucked into all the bullshit about The Business of Blogging and tried too hard to mold this blog to become something that I had no passion for. And then I all but abandoned this space for the better part of year because I wasn’t sure I had a place in the blogosphere if I didn’t have a niche or a brand. When I went through my yoga teacher training this became a place for me to chronicle that experience, and I thought I would make this a more yoga-ish blog, but even that didn’t feel totally authentic either.

The reality is, this blog is ALL of those things. I am a cocktail-swilling, f-word abusing, dog-loving, yogi. I am hopelessly addicted to reality TV, I re-watch the entire West Wing series every year, I carry my Kindle everywhere and read whenever I can (everything from books about yoga, to chick lit and a healthy dose of police fiction), and I absolutely cannot function without my coffee.

So I’m back to where I started—no niche, no brand, just me. I’m back to writing about what’s moving me at any given moment whether it’s books, yoga, crappy reality TV, my dogs eating their own poop, or my obsession with shoes and bags. I want to get back to writing about the more personal things that matter to me.

As far as the rest of it? I’m trying to embrace the social media aspects of blogging again without taking all so personally. I’m going to comment more on the blogs I read regularly to show them support and let them know I’m still reading, and I may even go old-school and resurrect my beloved blogroll to publicly proclaim my love for the blogs I read regularly. And I’m even dipping my toes back into the waters of Twitter ever so slowly.

So if you like your yoga with liberal does of reality TV, and if you like personal stories with some swearing, a side of humor and a cocktail, then this your community.

This is who I am and THAT is why I blog.