Tuesday, August 16, 2005

Addicted

Blogging has become a favorite pastime for many. For some, it has become an obsession. As one spend more time sitting in front of their computers, they neglect family, friends and jobs. They blog at home and also at work.
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I have been blogging for more than 8 months now. Sometimes I put more energy into blogging than into my research. It is sort of easy to get sucked into it ! I am beginning to feel a little too addicted to blogging. Bad signs. One of the first things I do when online is open my blog. I talk about my blog all the time.
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So far, I enjoy blogging. Will I become more engaged with my laptop, more engaged with my blog than I am with my research ?!?

So blogging ... pastime or obsession ?

8 comments:

problogger said...

haha, I know the feeling..

What i did was i closed down my blog for 6 mths..then everything back to normal.. but the problem now is.. I have started to blog again... :-(

Anonymous said...

Hello Patrick,

About blogs... sometimes people put on this whole persona when blogging. Like its them but magnified tenfold. Things that might slightly bother them in real life become life and death in the world of blogdom. I guess what im saying is you cant always tell a person from their blog cause diff people use their blogs differently.

For some people their blogs are not their diaries, as in they don't use it to relate specific events or put internal discussions down in digital form. Its not as straightforward as that. For others, their blogs are a form of cathartic release where issues and problems are whipped into larger than life dimensions so that they can get it out of their system and get on with life.

Now a blog will surely express some facet of the writers personality or soul but this expression is usually distorted by factors we cannot really hope to understand because writing a blog is such a personal thing.

I basically think that all blogs should be viewed in the context that they are written. There are a few types that I can think of off the top of my head, yet most blogs are usually a combination of these, so maybe the individual posts should be viewed in the context of what kind of post it was meant to be:

- diary/rambling blogs: today I went to the shop. I bought a,b,c,d & e. Then I went home. I took a number 7 bus. It went past my old primary school. I miss being in primary school. Life was easy then.

Pretty everyday stuff.

- ranting/bitching blogs: I hate XYZ. She and ABC did this that and the other. And aren't traffic police the most evil people in the world?!

Usually alot of hate this and hate that. Yeah basically alot of anger.

- serious commentary blogs: Shouldn't the censorship that blankets our nation not extend into cyberspace? Acidflask should not have been made to take his blog down by A*Star! I wonder what he/SHE wrote?

Discussing politics and current affairs. Can be quite cheeem and emo.

- funny blogs: Look at me! I can make funny faces! I curse and swear in a humourous manner! I make witty comments and can tell funny stories.jokes!
Why do they call it PMS? Because Mad Cow Disease was taken!

I like these the best. I don't look for more stress when I read peoples blogs. I look for less. :)

- artistic blogs: A butterfly. Was once. But a worm. As am I. Sigh...

Full of poetry and/or examples of photoshop/photography skillz. Occasionally extremely depressing and tending towards suicidal thoughts.

Ok, I need to sleep. But really I was just thinking that, well for me anyway, a blog can be many things, but first and foremost it is an outlet. It is a way for indiviuals to express how they feel about certain things in a way that makes them feel good. For some that means bitching, for some that means turning an incident into a funny life story. In our blogs we control reality in the retelling. Like our own little personal matrixes. Ok, I"ve completely lost my train of thought and will go to bed now. :)

Dearie arglene, am speechless, i didn't expect you mention it out my name..hehe and so much many thankful to have you as one of my best bloggie friend, which is truely significant. I miss you and with many thanks.

Patrick, your blog has become my all time favourite since eg. April till present you know?..and thanks!

Charlene.

EngLee said...

Pastime! :)

zbjernak said...

67% pastime
33% obsession

everything i do...everything i came across...everything i buy...everything i think....the first came to my mind is blog....

i wanted to show the whole world the places i go....wanna them to know what i did.... and every single thing...

i think it is the current trend... internet start with MIRC, then email, then yahoo and msn chatting...then online game...and now blogging...

hehheheheheh...wondering wht will be next?

Melissa said...

Ouch! Im going to take a leap of faith and guess that Americans are not the only people who watch hours upon hours of TV. In fact the Japanese watch the most TV in the world- an average of 5 hours a day!

Blogging is very different from watching TV. When a person watches TV their brain waves actually switch from beta to alpha waves (the same found when a person is in a coma or put in a state where the subject is not interacting with the outside world at all) This means you are basically in a vegetative state. ( Refer to the Mulholland Experiment).

Blogging is an active, creative process of communication. exercise. Like a journal, it allows the author to express themself, make observations about the world around them, and reflect on their experiences. It also provides a way for people from different parts of the world to share ideas,learn from each other's experiences, and even become friends.

Primrose said...

As long as we know the limits. *sigh* I know it's not an obsession but it could be a dangerous pastime (psst, as in my case). *sad look*

Patrick Leong said...

sweepy : i have never heard of nicotine patch (the word) until you put it in my comment box. blog-patch for blog addicts ?!? that's cool. send some over :P

mmulibra : i am surprised to know that you are my friend's brother. nice to know you. such a small world. i heard about you through some friends some time ago and was wondering how to contact you. but actually you have been one of my blog readers. what a coincidence !

arglene : thank you for being a good friend too. the blogger is back ! yes, i find blogging therapeutic as well. a way of relieving stress and to learn new things (apart from what we are studying in school).

elisa : thank you for comment in english :P gracias por su comentario saludos.

charlene : thanks again. wow. very long comment. school and work can be very stressful at times. stress reduction helps balance and manages my life. to reduce stress i go out with friends, listen to music and blog (also painting).

englee : pastime but sometimes i am quite obsessed with my blog. someone has jokingly threatened that he will hack my blog. probably not obsessed, maybe i am very attached to my blog.

zbjernak : i can't say that i don't blog about my life. in a way, i just concentrate on travel pictures. not so much about what i do daily. not so much of a diary blog. and it is so true about the trend. in fact fortune magazine has named blogging as the No. 1 trend in 2005. next ? video blogging ? maybe already started ?!?

amanda : it is funny to complain that we have done nothing but just sit in front of the TV munching chips while watching 'everybody loves raymond' or sit in front of the laptop blogging. excuse me while i complain :P

melissa : thanks for the comprehensive answer to why blogging can be beneficial to us and to one another. it seems like blogging can be good for health.

primrose : yes. know our limits. imagine online individual diaries available to all on the internet !!! and the ability to free speech in blogging can sometimes cause some negative impact that seems to defeat the very purpose of free speech.

Eddie said...

Patrick deleted my comment... why?
This is dictatorships!!!
You cover the ugly part of life..!