Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Blogger Reality

I have a theory that people who are attracted to reality television shows are also attracted to blogs. My little blog started out as a way for me to keep in touch with the people in my life who are scattered throughout the world. Only two of those people were also bloggers----Genevieve and Ellen. One day, I realized that lots and lots of people I didn't know were reading Ellen's blog. She actually had a big following. (this is due to her honesty, her creativity and her general Ellen-ness) I was curious to see who these people were that were reading my friend's blog. So, I started looking at THEIR blogs. I did the same thing with my friend Genevieve's blog. When I started knitting, I plugged into a whole new blogging world. One blog beget another blog beget another blog. Then, I found out about internet swaps. Now, all of a sudden, I am reading a dozen blogs every single day. Some of these strangers have even become friends. I follow their lives with interest and rejoice in their triumphs and feel sorrow in their dark times. I have learned about knitting websites, infertility, child-rearing techniques, shopping tips, freebies, book recommendations.....The list goes on and on. Bloggers are a wealth of information.

I have felt for a long time that technology is alienating us from one another. In some ways, I still believe that. But the internet and blogging have also offered me the chance to meet other people I never would have otherwise. It is my virtual reality tv. And it's great.


(by the way, I may be getting sucked into yet ANOTHER reality show....did anyone see the promos for the Doggie Day Care one? I'm such a sucker for animals!)

1 comment:

Genevieve said...

I have been watching British reality tv on BBC... there's one called Underdog, which is sort of like Dancing with the Stars, in that celebrities train stray dogs, there are judges, and then Britian votes. The one with the overall lowest score gets the boot.

Coming soon to an American tv near you, I'm sure!