How Blogging Has Changed Me

Posted on by Astrid

Hi everyone. Today in her Sunday Poser, Sadje asks us how blogging has changed us and specifically our thinking.

This is a really tough one. I started keeping an online journal that gradually morphed into a blog at age 16 in 2002. Starting that journal wasn’t a surprise: I’ve always been a bit in your face with my issues, especially to strangers. Back then, I wasn’t ashamed to put my thoughts out there for the entire world to read. My English, though it was readable, wasn’t nearly at the level it is now and I had no concept of privacy either for myself or others. I honestly can’t say I don’t regret any posts I’ve put out there. I actually regret having posted some of the writings on my current blog.

As such, having written stuff online for 23 years helped me be slightly more aware of my own and other people’s boundaries. I still probably should be more careful. In fact, I considered starting a new, anonymous blog earlier this year, but I doubt how much that’d help me be truly unidentifiable. I, after all, share so much online about myself that I’m pretty sure my nicknames are easy to connect.

In other respects, blogging has helped me become a better writer. That is, before my days on WP, I did share the stories I’d written as a teen online too. However, these were written in Dutch. Blogging has certainly helped me improve my English.

I still rarely express myself through creative writing, such as poetry or short fiction. That’s a goal I have had for years, but somehow it feels embarrassing to do. That’s weird, isn’t it? I don’t feel ashamed of blabbering about my life, but creative writing scares me.

With respect to connections, WP has helped me immensely. As soon as I moved my diary to WP in 2007, I learned about the blogging community and have started making connections. Some of these people, like carol anne from Therapy Bits, I still talk to more than 15 years on. Blogging isn’t like real life for me, in that hardly any deep friendships have formed out of it. Oh wait, I only have one friend IRL too. 🤣 Maybe this means I’m too superficial for deep connections.

One last thing I learned from blogging is to keep my mouth shut when I have nothing nice to say. That doesn’t mean I can always do so in real life, but I learned early on that particularly when commenting on other people’s posts, you should always include something positive or encouraging. I was harshly criticized back in my early days online for honestly saying that some product wasn’t for me. Turned out the post was sponsored. Let me just say I will never do that kind of thing.

I did occasionally try to be a “lifestyle blogger” in Dutch, but it isn’t my thing and will never be. I’ll, after all, always be authentically me. As such, when I say something nice, I do mean it (it isn’t like I comment positively just because I need to).

That’s a good thing about WP as opposed to self-hosted blogging: there’s less pressure to become an “influencer”. That doesn’t mean you can’t be more or less popular, but I trust those on WP, including those who get a zillion comments, to be authentic.

16 thoughts on “How Blogging Has Changed Me”

  2. You have been blogging for a long time, most of your adult life, so I’m not surprised that you’ve changed how you blog over the years. I’m not sure how blogging has changed me, but I do know I’ve made friends I wouldn’t otherwise have had through the blog world. That was something I didn’t anticipate.

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    1. Ah yes, that’s true, I didn’t even realize but indeed I was 20 when I created my first blog on WordPress. Thanks so much for commenting. I’m glad you’ve made friends through blogging.

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  3. Such an interesting post of yours, and you raised a very valid point about the authenticity of influencers. I’m not influenced by them, hopefully, but the younger demographic often is. Now that I am mainly a food and gardening blogger, I am very aware of the amount of work that goes into a blog post, and am very mindful of being encouraging to others. If you don’t like it, don’t follow it, simple. I do love the writing aspect of blogging as well. I look forward to future posts of yours, and I invite you to follow my blog too, when you are ready. All the best, Pauline . https://happyretireeskitchen.blogspot.com/

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    1. Thank you so much for your insightful comment. I have never been truly influenced by for-profit bloggers, though I did back in the early days participate in comment threads on FB, which are mainly done by “influencers” (that’s how I made that mistake of leaving a critical comment on a sponsored post).

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  4. Thanks Astrid for sharing your blogging journey. You should not feel shy of experimenting with fiction and poetry on your blog. Here people are very supportive and I’ve always received positive feedback from them.

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  6. Interesting to read your thoughts on how blogging has changed you. I’m very glad I started my blog. I have found a community and friendship and my blog is my safe place to go when I need support. X

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    1. That makes sense. I in a way wish I’d started blogging anonymously from the get-go so that I’d really be able to be fully myself on my blog too.

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  7. I know the first time I shared some of my writing online I was terrified, but when I got positive feedback it made me less self conscious about it, You can not find out unless you try. I would love to see a poem or short story from you. I hope you do it!

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