Hi, My name is Chloe. I like to talk and hence you can usually find me over at Chloe Likes To Talk. I'm a 22 year old coffee freak, food loving, sweetie muching, matryoshka obsessed, fashion junkie languages graduate with a tendency to over use Spanish terms of endearment. I like to think and dream big, even if I can't always work the little things out and my aspirations change at least weekly. Words to live by: One swallow does not a summer make.
A lot of things in this life provoke extremes. Me, personally I love liquorice, and Marmite, and Diet Coke instead of standard. I’m probably a bit of an extreme person- people either like me or they really don’t, I have to do something properly and in the right order or not at all… and Blogging, it seems is a world of extremes too.
A lot of things in this life provoke extremes. Me, personally I love liquorice, and Marmite, and Diet Coke instead of standard. I’m probably a bit of an extreme person- people either like me or they really don’t, I have to do something properly and in the right order or not at all… and Blogging, it seems is a world of extremes too.
When Maria was looking for a Guest Post for her holiday (not that I’m jealous of her, much!) it struck me just how good blogging can be, as well as a few other things I’d noticed that show a slightly darker side to the minefield that is the internet and social networking and blogging.
Just like everything else, I have really noticed the extremes of the amazingly lovely and wonderful people out there (Maria included) and sheer nastiness of the dreaded Anon Comment. Anonymous comments, more often than not, tend to be really very vicious with criticisms of your appearance, your body shape and appearance in general, of your work both on and offline, your blog content, layout and size, your opinions and beliefs and in some cases even your family, friends and partner. They are often needlessly harsh and far from the constructive criticism most people would happily receive and act upon. Many a person venturing into a space upon the web has been driven away by this hatred and bullying, but in my mind anybody who cannot put their name to their opinions and evident rage against something, has no validity and their comments are null and void.
But what really strikes me with blogging is the flip side. The people who reach out in times of trouble and of celebration. The letters and the meet-ups. The e-mails that come through from someone who really enjoyed reading what you wrote and/or identified with it in a big way. I’ve been on the receiving end of some of the nice bits. There’s a certain lady in the Blogosphere who sends me a text or a BBM when she knows I’m having a rough day and she always cheers me up. There’s another lovely lady who e-mailed me to tell that she felt good having found somebody who shared opinions about life and wanted to tell me how much she’d enjoyed reading. And there’s yet another lady with whom I exchange the notes, cards and sometimes food with on a regular basis.
And it’s not all one way. Blogging has inspired a side of me that many of my “real life” friends and colleagues would probably find quite amusing. In the last year, I’ve reached out to people who are having a tough time, because however trivial the issue might seem, I’d hate for someone to feel alone or unsupported when things are going wrong- however badly, on whatever scale. Whether it be breaking up with the person you thought you’d be spending the rest of your life with or a bad day in the office, having someone say “Hi. I’m here. If you want to chat, you know where to find me.” can make all the difference in the world. And it seems not to matter whether you live 10 miles apart or 100, whether you’re a fashion or a food blogger, whether you’re in Kent or Kazakhstan. One of the real beauties of a virtual world is that you can bring all of these people together.
And so it is, that I find myself wondering about such a strange community, where the majority of people are really quite pleasant souls and yet there are some who can’t quite bring themselves to either keep it clean or not be seen. It’s a world of extremes, but I don’t think I could leave it if I wanted to.
Big thank you to Maria for providing me with a most opportune platform for this little ramble, hope she’s having a lovely time whilst we’re all slaving away here.
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2 comments
I thought I recognised your lovely face! I got so confused for a moment when i saw the photo on my dashboard under Frills n Spills. Then i realised this was a guest post. I think you're right - the blogosphere is amazing and actually understated. I find that a lot of real life friends don't get it, and I don't talk about it (apart from this week when i've been asked questions about the Look competition) but it's my hobby and I love that there's girls out there who get me. xxx
I love blogging and i love meeting bloggers. I've been lucky in that so far i havent received hateful comments and have only come across lovely people but im aware that they exist of course. Well written post dear and its always good to discover new blogs to read :)
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