The occasional derogatory comments and hate mails (fortunately, they're few and far between) I get from dissatisfied readers cause me to pose this question: Why do people bother reading blogs they so clearly hate? Or if "hate" is too strong a word (and I'm not sure that it is), then substitute "dislike" or "violently disagree with".
I'm serious about this question. Why would someone visit a blog regularly, then take the time to write to the author about how they hate the blog, and THEN go back for more? They continue reading the blog and continue bashing the blogger about what a waste of time they think the blog is. Call me crazy, but I know when I read a blog and don't like the content or the writing, I just leave and go do something else. I've got better things to do than to try and police the blogosphere. Do people really have that much spare time in their lives? Is it a form of masochism, reading something you dislike, or that bores you, or that upsets you, and constantly doing it over and over again? Why are they not out there doing something more constructive and meaningful with their lives, like say, telling small children there IS no Santa Claus (kids, I promise, that's just a nasty rumor, and Santa's fine and spending his summer hangin' with the reindeer, resting up for next Christmas).
I can understand if you're reading a blog, and then maybe one day the blogger writes something you just don't agree with; then fine, by all means feel free to express your opinion. But there's another variety of blog-critic out there, and THEY seem to think it's their job in life to rid the internet of whatever reading material THEY think is unworthy. They try to do this by telling the blogger to please stop blogging. (Attempted censorship?) Yeah, like THAT'S gonna work.
Ben Franklin said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting different results. So if you're reading a blog you hate and wish would disappear forever, and you KEEP on reading it expecting it to go away, then who's the insane one? Is it the blogger who keeps writing whatever he or she feels like writing, or is it you, the reader, who continues to read what you claim you do not want to read? Do you realize every time you go back and read that person's blog you supposedly hate, you're adding a "visit" and increasing the statistical popularity of that blog?
Here is a prime example of one of these rebel blog-critics without a real cause. "Verite" (a real misnomer, if you ask me) has been a commentor in the past few months who never has anything positive to say about what he/she reads here. Past comments have included remarks like "I read your blog out of a perverse fascination as to whether what you say can get anymore banal (you can put that among the quotes in the left hand corner of your page if you like)."
Today, Verite -- apparently unable to control him/herself another moment -- really came out swinging, in the following comment to this post about the recent Paris Bloggers' Picnic:
Ummm... so if I really don't know anyone in Paris, who were those 60-70+ people at the Buttes Chaumont on Saturday, the ones with whom I was laughing and eating and drinking and talking about dating? OH, I get it: you mean I don't know anyone who matters. Like you, apparently. Yes, I'm really broken up about that. I need more closed-minded control freaks in my life. But thanks for mentioning "fisting" again in your comment because you just raised my blog stats another 2 percentage points.
So, Verite thinks we Paris bloggers ('cuz it's not just ME s/he's bashing this time, it's me and my peeps) are responsible for the state of the world. And s/he is under the misguided impression that his/her opinion represents the masses. I didn't realize Verite was the appointed guardian of creativity, originality, imagination and what's entertaining or worthy -- did you? Clearly, I must have missed that memo. Granted, the blogging we do may not be as impressive a contribution to mankind as being "bitter about the state of the world" and doing nothing of value with your bitter time and bitter attitude but bitterly haranguing ex-pat bloggers with your bitterness, but we can't all be Mother Theresa, now can we?
I do think Verite, who is obviously French, has a real issue with the non-French bloggers ("I think real french artists and actors and writers would find this hilarious") cluttering up the internet with our tripe. But Verite, did you know there were a good number of French bloggers also in attendance at that picnic? THEY don't seem to have a problem associating with the rest of us. They even shared their Pimm's with us without once wrinkling their noses in distaste. And they put up with our bad French with very good humor.
How are YOU contributing, Verite? Do YOU have a blog where you are making the internet and the world a better place in a way that we, who blog about plumbing and food and picnics and where our next shag is coming from, don't? Are you a "real" French artist or actor or writer, and if so, where are YOUR credentials -- show us your stuff! Or are you merely one of those sad people who gets off on bitching and moaning, but who doesn't have the guts to get out in the world and do something? All I see is someone who likes to complain about the world and the other people in it. That doesn't make you better than the rest of us; it makes you pathetic. And more than a little bit tiresome.
I find that people like Verite -- those who seem to live to tell OTHERS how to live, because they think they've got the copyright on that -- are typically guilty themselves of the very things for which they criticize others. I find people like THIS to be "banal" and "a bore", and they clearly have a superiority complex (there's a pill for that, you know) because they feel it's their job in life to police the internet and make it safe for close-minded stick-up-their-asses people like themselves.
And the people who write in to tell us they hate our blogs and to stop blogging? They miss the point completely - no one is FORCING them to read our blogs. The internet is a passive activity, you have to make the effort to turn on your computer, open your browser, and CLICK something. It's also a medium where anyone can write anything they want, and no one has to like it. So Verite "babes", if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. Change the channel. "If you want it to stop hurting, stop touching it!" Find another hobby. Go click yourself.
We banal and boring bloggers? We're sticking around. Deal with it. And you're boring my other readers with your banalité.
This is hilarious:
"60 or 70 of the most creative people living in Paris today"
- is it a joke?
You think blogging about dating and the funny stuff you ate and drank and did a wee wee in while in Paris is creative. Oh babes, you really don't know anyone in Paris do you?
You all copy each other and say the same old stuff that has been said by everyone else. And you think it is creative!! I think real french artists and actors and writers would find this hilarious - that you think because you set up a web page where you say what time it is in what country and the weather and how many hits you've had and use the word "fisting" to try and get more hits that you are a "writer". Oh bold soul you are such a bore and every time I read your blog i get more depressed about the state of the world and i come back thinking - is there a way to stop all these unimaginative and unoriginal people who would never even be known if it wasnt for the internet. Stop blogging. I come back with that one goal. Hoping your blog won't pollute the internet anymore. And i'm torn between feeling sorry for you because you don't understand anything and feeling bitter about the state of society.