Rambles about blogging

[Mammamel]

I was reading my morning blogs today and a thought struck me. I have had many blogs on my list (now there are about 12 I read EVERY day). My list has been shortened over the last few years.

In part this is due to reformatting my computer, blogs have been lost off my list never to be found again. Some I quit reading because they got too involved in drama. Others because the writers stopped writing. Still others because the authors took them private. I will not ask to be approved to read a private blog. Even one i really miss, as favorites go away, God brings me new ones like this one:
http://chatswithanoldlady.blogspot.com/

Taking a blog private though, intrigues me. You block folks from disagreeing with you, but are still able to go to their blogs and disagree with them there... I suppose it would cut down on controversy, but it limits growth too. Not growth of the blog, but personal growth. I mean, what good does it do to propose a theory, the moon is made of cheese, and then only surround yourself with folks who agree that yes it is made of cheese, and ignore folks who might disagree and have facts to back it up. Then go to another blog where those facts are presented and disagree there? To me that just does not seem fair. If you only want to deal with folks who agree, then stay on your own area, if you want open discussion, don't go private.

Now yes I understand having a personal blog where folks are hand picked for sensitive subjects like family. I do not wish my family dragged out in public either. (notice I don't post pics here) However if your purpose is to learn or teach a private blog would seem to be a waste of time.

I began my blog in answer to folks asking me too. Why anyone would want to hear these ramblings that pulse through my head I dunno. Gluttons for boredom I guess!

Now that that is out of my system I need to get back to my day, laundry, kitchen and bathroom are on my agenda for today, just as they are every Monday! I also have about 7 tomato plants and 7 pepper plants to get in the ground.
hugs y'all
mel

[Mamame]

I agree Mel. Sometimes a blog is the only way to discuss an issue and to shut down one side is pretty childish, IMO. Personally, I like to dialogue. I find it challenging and it produces growth in me - so that's the kind of blog I want for mine. I hope others would find the same kind of growth - growth that comes from study of the Word to see if what we're hearing is the truth or not. It does seem unfair to not be able to address what others are saying in their blogs - to not even see the blog unless you are "approved" to see it, yet they can come and comment on your own and say stuff. In my experience, those who shut down their blogs to the public tend to be those who are close-minded and do not want to hear the other side. They've made up their minds and they don't want to hear what could possibly challenge their ideas. But that's OK. In the meantime, I'll leave my own blog open for others to see and hopefully I will challenge others to study the Word at times to see what God says about something and not man.

[cookinmom]

I have very little experience with blogs, but have seen how things go on forums. Maybe the writers of those blogs just get tired of contentious people. Just a thought, I'm not trying to be disagreeable. But isn't their blog their space to say what they want to say? Maybe they should just moderate the comments and remove the nasty ones though, instead of turning private. And, I do agree, if they don't want people fussing on their blogs, they should definitely keep their mouths shut when they visit other's blogs.

Oh the beauty of free speech!!! :)

Mel, I enjoying your musings. I like the way you think. :)
Have a good day, y'all!

[Mammamel]

Nah you aren't disagreeable, you actually helped make my point.
But isn't their blog their space to say what they want to say?

Why should I in private tell my followers that yellow is hideous and should not exist. And keep it private so no one can be contentious (though contentious people are every where and it is hard to avoid them!) Yet i can go to some one else's blog who thinks yellow is the dandiest thing since jelly, and tell them why they are wrong. To me that is like a kid who hits their sibling then runs and hides so they don't get hit back.

I don't care to read a persons blog if they don't wish to be fair about it. It just is something i have noticed and decided to try and figure it out in my own way. If i was to take this blog private, there would be no reason for it, i can journal as well on paper or just keep a computer journal, with no danger of anyone disagreeing with me ever on them.

[cookinmom]

I getcha! On your blog you can say whatever you want about how disgusting yellow is, but if you make it where people can't disagree with you, then don't go to their site and start fussing about how much you hate yellow. Tit for tat, as my mom would say!

[jdnewlywed]

Can't anyone block people from disagreeing with them on a blog, public or private? I know several people who do something like moderate their comments (I think that is what it's called?) or delete comments, and several who don't.

I don't see taking a blog private as a way to keep people from disagreeing with you. I see it more as a way to be more careful about who views your blog, so maybe you can be less worried about putting pics of family up on there, or using your kiddo's names, etc etc. As a foster parent, I have to be extremely careful on my blog to never mention our foster son's name or show his picture.

When I run a across a link to a blog that is private, I just assume they have personal information in there that they would like to control access to.

Just another opinion!

[Mammamel]

Yep Jen, I can see a blog being private for close friends and such if it is a family thing.

The ones i don't understand were ones supposedly aimed at teaching godly values. What good does it do to take that private, and just preach to the choir that already agrees with you?

If you are going to be a Christ following conservative and blog about it, contention will come. It is how you meet it that counts.

Do you meet it yelling, brassy and bold with finger pointing or calmly with scripture and grace? We learn much more about folks by how they handle adversity than by how they handle agreement. We learn much more about ourselves the same way.

[teakettle]

I getcha! On your blog you can say whatever you want about how disgusting yellow is, but if you make it where people can't disagree with you, then don't go to their site and start fussing about how much you hate yellow. Tit for tat, as my mom would say!

my mom says that too! :)

i love to read blogs that are about home and family and teach me new recipes or crafts....and i am fascinated by the amazing women out there who have some unbelievable stories to tell! there is enough strife in the world on a daily basis i don't want to read a blog that is riddled with it as well....and if its' so controversial as to warrant privacy then IMHO what's the point of blogging in the first place. :)

[katieanne]

If someone wishes to take their blog private....that is their decision to make. Some just wish to have a quiet, peaceful place to write down thoughts. The contention is what they are trying to avoid.
Most boards or blogs have ways to control contention....screen all responses, close threads or erase a thread altogether. That is the perogative of the blog or board owner. I am too busy to worry about if a blog decides to go private.
Why should we care? I think it is because women can be suspicious creatures...and we don't like secrets kept from us...lol

[jdnewlywed]

The further this discussion goes, the more I realize that I must not know what’s going on. It’s beginning to sound like a specific person or people’s blogs are being discussed here. And, as usual, I am in the dark! (by choice!)

[cookinmom]

Maybe us Christian women should spend more time doing something of value and less time on our computers. Another strategy my mom employed -- keep the kids too busy to fight! :)

[katieanne]

Yup, it starts to sound like a real person. So I'll bow out.

[Calico Prairie]

I'm sorry ladies, that's my fault. That wasn't at all my intention, though in reading my posts, I realize they did sound contentious and finger-pointing. I apologize for sounding that way, and not being more careful of my tone in my posts. I have deleted my posts in this thread so as to allow this thread to be what it was intended to be. Again, I apologize.

[LadyJane]

Maybe we could turn the coin to the other side and say that someone who blogs anything and everything in public is just doing it for the attention. I've encountered people who enjoy blogging publically because they like the drama and it makes them feel popular. There's something to be said about keeping your opinions to yourself in order to leave sleeping dogs lie.

[Mammamel]

I think folks are putting too much into my original thought.
Here is where it began. I was reading a friends blog and decided to click on a link. The link took me to a blog on frugality and good stewardship. However even though it seemed set up as a teaching blog (learn from me kind of feel) the blog had been taken private.

That got me to thinking of blogs I used to read that I miss that filled some kind of need in me. An example, a former PHer I really miss is Candy. Candy is to me the best example of a Titus 2 submissive wife. She seriously taught me a lot by her example. I myself am too bold to be just like her, but that is something I am working on. I loved her blog, smarshmallow, and i remember being on the phone with her the day she picked the name. Her blog touched my heart and made me think and see things through different eyes than my own. She took her excellent blog private. i did not ask to be allowed to read it because I feel in a small way responsible. People used her comments area to post bad stuff about PH, not about Candy. So to help her keep peaceful i stayed away.

Now God has sent me another blog that touches that same place in my heart, the yearning to learn gentleness and devotion. That blog is the one I listed earlier, Chats with an old lady.

Now some folks have private blogs where they go indepth into the ins and outs of life, post kid pics and so on. That is great and I am priveleged to be allowed to view a couple of those. My thing is if we are to reach out and teach those hungry for the Titus 2 woman, how can we do it being hidden away?

As far as the replying to others blogs, I have seen this often in my rambles round the web. at last count i am a member of about 10 or 12 boards, under various names, and meet a lot of folks that way. From them I find blogs, the good ones i bring here the bad ones i try to forget.
There was no personal interest in this thread, just curiosity as to why it occurs.
As I said if we are to be teachers, or examples to a fallen world we can not hide under a bushel. We must meet Christ's detractors head on with Grace and scripture. Otherwise there is no point.

[Ginger]

I love love reading blogs, I love to blog. I thought of taking mine private after my issues but left it so I could just moderate comments and most comments I allow....Unless they are acting my character I wont but tasteful arguments about something I have written is nice. It gives food for thought.

[Mamame]

I agree Ginger. I would probably stop attacking comments - but it's good to show the good and the bad, I think. I've not had a blog very long but I've so far posted all the comments that have come in. I think it's GOOD to discuss differences. Hey - I've learned a lot and even changed my mind in some things after discussions with others online and in real life!

[mrsroyer]

Just another though, as far as taking a blog private, yet still reaching people. Maybe it is by referral, so that it does grow, although more slowly, just not in leaps and bounds, nor does it get out of control. :)

[MerchantShips]

This is something I think about a lot. I, too, don't really see the point of a private blog unless it is a personal journal or just for family.

Blogs make great, free scrapbooks for your children!

On the other hand, I agree that the reason most people stop blogging is because of contention. I like to leave things open for discussion--to a certain point. Otherwise the comments can devolve into ugliness and depending on the tone of the blog, that may not be what you set out to achieve.

It's a lot harder than it looks, especially when comments get personal, and you as a blogger know you cannot divulge all the information at hand. On a public blog, you never know who's reading!

Even if you try to steer clear of controversy, if you are online long enough , controversy will find you.

But Mel already knows that! I've seen her handle more flare ups with grace and Scripture at PH than anyone else online : )