Honest Confessions From a Longtime Blogger

This April (or perhaps June, I sort of lost track which is the actual month I started blogging) I've been blogging for 16 years. So here are some honest confessions (and maybe some random ramblings) about blogging.

01 - I use Google's Blogger which I think it's a good platform for me as it lets me do whatever I want with my blog template. I have a temporary sidebar with the A-Z links but I usually prefer a one-column blog as I find sidebar items a distraction and also, it's hard to keep a sidebar from looking cluttered. (Don't be surprised my sidebar is gone by the end of the month.)
    Blogger is far, far from perfect. I think any platform you use, there will be issues but that's to be expected as nothing is perfect. The downside of using Blogger all these years is now I have no clue how to use Wordpress if I switched over which will probably never happen. Blogger is free so who knows maybe one day, it won't be. As with everything, it won't stay the same.

02 - I still sort of think of myself as a newbie because I still have no idea what to post every time I signed into my blog. Yes, I have ideas but it usually takes me a week to decide if I want to post an idea. I'm hesitant a lot even for posts I have written and created art for and even formatted the post in Blogger. It's probably why I have large gaps in between posts. I should be able to decide on a post after all these years but I don't. (This A-Z challenge is a real challenge because I only have a few hours each day, sometimes only two, to decide on an idea, write it, format it and post it.) 

03 - Like other people, I want to preserve some of my web presence but I pretty much deleted all my previous blogs because I find them not worth persevering. (Although my last blog is still up over here.) I see a lot of bloggers and web users keeping their old blogs or websites around so people can browse them but let's be honest, no one visits those old blogs or websites unless it's by accident or if you suddenly thought that person might just start updating (which is a lot of wishful thinking.) I think of these old blogs and websites as museums - you visit them once and then stop because there are no new exhibits. But sometimes it really is nice to visit old blogs and recheck what is there. 

04 - Blogging to me is in normal speed when compare with social media. I prefer to be slow because then I can take the time to really enjoy everything I read and write and look at. I don't necessarily have to hurry along and move on to the next thing. I certainly don't have to rush to put a post together so I can get it out faster (unless I'm doing the A-Z challenge). Not to say you don't take the time with social media, only that, I just get the feeling there are no slow time with social media.

05 - I still enjoy blogging. I get a little thrill whenever I release a post into the blogosphere. There is some fear and some oh-it's-probably-a-bad-idea feeling mix in but it's a thrill nonetheless. I suppose you can think of a blog post as something like a art piece that you want the world to give some sort of reaction to. You know it's nice to be accepted and liked even if it came from a stranger from the other side of the world whom you've probably never heard of or met but for the few seconds, you sort of met them and feel some connection with them even though it might just be your imagination but I like to think there is something there for that brief moment in time. I guess it's weird to ask strangers for opinions, comments, when you're not certain who they are or what they're thinking. I like to think we're all friends here supporting each other with kind words because if we think badly of people when we don't know them, then this world isn't all that fun to be in.

Are you a longtime blogger? If so, what do you think of blogging now?

For more about Blogging from A to Z Challenge, click on the image above or go here.