The loneliness of the long-distance blogger

Bite the bullet. Why is it easier to expose emotions and vulnerabilities to hundreds of strangers on a blog than to just one on a tram? The evolution of a trend towards blending of the personal and political in the blogosphere, arguably initially orchestrated by Gianna, is a fascinating phenomenon that bears watching, methinks.

About Ken Parish

Ken Parish is a legal academic, with research areas in public law (constitutional and administrative law), civil procedure and teaching & learning theory and practice. He has been a legal academic for almost 20 years. Before that he ran a legal practice in Darwin for 15 years and was a Member of the NT Legislative Assembly for almost 4 years in the early 1990s.
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Tysen
Tysen
2024 years ago

What do you mean by “bears watching”? Is that a pun that I don’t get?

Are you surrounded by bears! Thats my worst nightmare.

cs
cs
2024 years ago

That (Tysen’s comment) is what happens when you bag Media Watch Ken. The fairies never sleep.

Geoff Honnor
Geoff Honnor
2024 years ago

Paddington Bear I’m assuming Ken?

Tysen, I suspect that Ken used ‘bear’ in this context because it’s more correct than ‘bare’ – and much less likely to invoke roguish, speculative commentary.

Rob Schaap
2024 years ago

Where have all the solid Ozzie virtues – with which my Dutch psyche was so transformed – gone? We blokes had three emotions: happy, angry and randy. Plenty!

Me, I was a natural – got it down to two.

And I only let the one out on the blog.

I reckon this public emoting stuff is eloquent testimony to the cancerous infusion into Stroin loif of the Jerry Springer element of Yanqui kulcha.

Bloody demeaning, I reckon.

My cask’s dry now, so I’m going to bed.

Gianna
2024 years ago

ouch, Rob…

btw ken, “initially orchestrated” – thanks, but i hardly think it was my invention.

Niall
2024 years ago

Personal stuff blogging is where it all began. The advent of the political or quasi-political blog is only recent.

Rob Schaap
2024 years ago

You’re quite right, Niall. For my part, I was being a tad ironic. And I certainly wasn’t taking a swipe at Gianna. I’ve some complicated thorts – not complicated to think (natch) but complicated to write – on emotion, gender and publicity I might try to articulate on Tuesday night (my only working week blogging night).

Tell ya what I already know I think, though. One’s emotions are one’s own – and there’s nothing wrong with the sharing of those. But other people are often complicit in the generation of these emotions, and at this point obligations arise. I certainly reckon bloggers should be more careful than they typically are in this respect. Maybe alternative sounding boards are rare in these modern alienated lives of ours, but I do think there’s an ethical issue when it comes to pumping other people’s private stuff into Google’s indiscriminate maw.

Gianna
2024 years ago

no worries, Rob…I agree with you….truth hurts.

still, i don’t think it matters as much if people use pseudonyms and remove all identifying characteristics. if the blogee then reads about himself or herself on your blog, they can hardly feel too exposed.