Reflections on blogging (Thing 11)

After a shaky start I’m really enjoying blogging and can see a place for it in both personal and professional areas of my life. However, upon reflection I’m inclined not to mix the two. The subtitle for my blog was “libraries, dance, the wild world and more”, but I’ve changed it, to reflect that I will only be using it to post about library- and professional-life-related issues. I know that a well-rounded professional has a full and active personal life too, but thinking of my blog as a communication tool (rather than a podium for self-indulgence), it feels much more appropriate to stick to one area of my life per blog, so that readers, who will usually (if at all!) be reading a post because of what it’s about, and not because they’re interested in me (partner and mum aside!), don’t have to wade through a load of posts that don’t interest them at all. So, because it’s my day-to-day interactions and experiences of the natural world that most inspire me to blog, I’ve set up another, Natural selections, to record this kind of thing.

My nature diary...

I still feel some unease about the vanity of blogging (something touched upon by Becky in her recent post on Library Thing, and narcissism). Who really cares what I have to say? Is it really pathetic to blog if no-one reads it (partner and mum aside again!)? But I’ve realised that blogging is an excellent form of reflection (or record keeping, in the case of Natural Selections, which I hope will be my online nature diary). Writing the posts helps you consolidate thoughts and opinions and is extremely valuable as an exercise in itself. Why not then post these on a blog? At worst no-one reads them, but you’ve learned something yourself by writing them; at best, you connect with somebody else, either now or in the future, and that’s just brilliant!

Thing 2 - Blogging (the psychological side!)

I've learned a valuable blogging lesson already - don't post about future postings! It's now week 2, Thing 3 is out there, and I haven't finished Thing 2 yet, largely because I foolishly promised, in a previous post, to post about my "blogging neuroses"! So, I'd better get this out of the way before I look at RSS feeds...

I feel uncomfortable about blogging. I think I'm talking here about blogging/posting that goes beyond a professional remit. Blogs like those of the UL Tower, Incunabula and Sassoon projects, for example, seem to me to be an excellent idea; and blogging for/about 23 Things is equally worthwhile, as by participating in it I am developing, learning and pursuing an end. It's beyond this that I get a bit anxious.  For example, I've published a couple of posts that are not about any of the 23 things, but about things that I, personally, am interested in. They are beyond what I need to do to complete the programme, they offer my own opinions and feelings about things - is there any place for these on a blog which has been set up as part of my professional life?

Why not refrain from publishing these personal posts in the first place? It is, after all, a little presumptuous to assume that anybody will read them, let alone be interested. Yet for some reason I want to, I suppose in the hope that they will connect with someone. Would I have been better to create a separate, anonymous blog for this kind of material? My instincts tell me not to publish anonymously - I want people to know who I am (not just in my blog, but generally in life!) and I feel that anonymity would undermine these connections I'm seeking. On the other hand, I'm imagining how I would feel knowing that, for example, a potential employer had read these posts. It's not that they have 'inappropriate' content in the general sense of that word, but that they give an insight into me beyond my persona as a librarian. In a professional context I want to be judged by my conduct as a professional, not my personality/personal interests.

Has anybody else had any thoughts on these issues?