Friday 20 May 2011

The unique language and world of bloggers

Listening me talk the other day, my non-blogger friend was just amazed with disbelief. What?!?!? Your blogger friend's birthday and to say that you haven't even met him/her. Well, all I could do was give my sweetest smile and say: "You won't understand, until you're blogging." Well, today there seems to be a divide between bloggers and non-bloggers. We bloggers have created a quasi-world where our language is filled with blogs, bloggers, posts, facebook groups, etc., which the non-blogging world views with part amusement and part disbelief. The world of bloggers and blogs can be comprehended only by those who either are bloggers or sympathetic towards blogging.



The steady growth of this blogging community is almost like the real community and despite the fact that most of us haven't met or even talked, the friendship quotient is mutual and agreeable. Sharing of joys, anger, frustrations, paranoia and other feelings comes without any iota of second thought. The comfort zone from the virtual to the real world is also something that a non-blogger cannot understand. When I told my friend that one of my blogger friends called me on my birthday and we ended up chatting for one hour (which is 1 a. m. in the morning), drew loaded stares.

Hearing my tales of blogging and bloggers who are my friends, my non-blogging friend has come to terms with the fact that this is indeed a fantastic relationship where without having seen and talked to, the comfort levels are quite relaxed and happy. Blogging also has the unique power to bring in people from various parts of the world and when they get into contact, it is not them alone but also their country, culture, family and unique tales.

Leaving out one or two untoward incidents, this world has enabled me to blossom in many hitherto unknown aspects of myself. I am indebted to all my blogger buddies. You rock my world!

Now this is a rather heartfelt post which I'm sure many will also share. Do you feel the same about blogging and having blogger friends?

Image: Internet

36 comments:

  1. absolutely, there can be as real a world of friendship here in blogland as "out there" - i have certainly found that to be true - i've found so many people with whom i feel such a connection - like you, susan - as great as if they lived next door - for me, geography and distance have absolutely nothing to do with spirits connecting -

    but it's true that a lot of people who do not blog have no clue about which we speak - however, those are probably the same people who could not tell you the names of their next door neighbors! ;)

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  2. I agree ma'am. This is a wonderful community where we can share our thoughts freely and the most amazing thing i believe is that we have so many listeners! They are ready to listen to us and share their own views even though we don't know them. Thank you for introducing me to this wonderful world ma'am.... :)

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  3. I had reached a point where there was no one..blogging has made me stronger,reading others posts made me feel that I am not the only one with pain,I got hope to start all over again,I have made my family here,and I want this one to last forever...Love u Susan,for this brilliant and outstanding post.

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  4. I would not have met/connected with you if I had not been blogging.... The acknowledgments and strength I get is from the small group of bloggers and Skype does help as well

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  5. i have met some truly incredible people online...if you asked me 3 years ago i never would have believed i would be as close as i am to some...

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  6. I vouch for everything you have said, not only for blogging, for the virtual relationships in general... something non- virtual peeps don't get at all :) the fun of it is let them stay puzzled and let us enjoy our times together.. the meeting of minds and ideas that gradually grows into a strong bond..friendship, love, admiration, fan following, it could be anything :)

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  7. I feel the same way about fellow bloggers that I do about gamer neighbors on Facebook...it doesn't cost anything to say "Happy Birthday" or to be congenial as a common courtesy. Of course, not every blogger is friendly. Some, like the troll who decided he didn't like a short story review I wrote, accused me of copyright infringement on his blog. Of course I had to call him out on it. But the douche in question is more of the exception rather than the norm. Read more here if you want details: http://tinyurl.com/WitlessTroll

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  8. Are there really still people out there that don't blog? Seriously nobody in my social or business circle blog, well apart from my buz partner that i have now forced to. They don't get why i commit so much time and effort, or why i talk about people i've never met. Great post!

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  9. I met my wife through blogging, even before we met in real life, we fell in love and we eventually got married. I never told how we met story to my relatives inspite of them pestering us constantly simply because they would never understand that it is possible to meet through a medium like blogging, fall in love over each others blogging words and thoughts and decide to marry ;)

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  10. Well Susan, you know that I have to agree with your post. Not only do I normally spent an almost insane amount of hours blogging but I also have met several bloggers. The first time at blogcamp, than another blogcamp I missed out on but I met a few of them on the way home and last weekend I met Zuzana. Each time it is a magical because despite the fact that we never met before physical we know each other inside out and become truly Ladies of Non-silence within seconds.

    Have a fantastic weekend.

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  11. well i see many friends here and people i love and trust a very beautiful world. Susan here is my hand of friendship. and a big hug of love for you to share. if at some time we get to meet, i will say hi sis welcome home.
    thank you and god bless

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  12. I couldn't agree on how non-blogging friends feel about blogging friends..!

    When read what somebody writes.. eventually you get to know about the person.I sometimes catch myself saying.. "Oh she is an excellent person!" And I wonder if it is right to conclude on the basis of what one writes. Now, I believe largely it does.

    :) Nice post as usual. :D

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  13. I didn't know it was your birthday. FB didn't tell me. Tsk tsk. When was it?

    Funny, I was just out to dinner with my high school friends last night and we touched on the subject of "blog friends". They noticed I have foreigners commenting on my status updates and photos, and they recognized the names from my blog posts. (I bet my bottom...um dollar, you're one of 'em, Sus!)

    One said we seem very familiar, almost like them whom I've known for more than half my life!

    When I started blogging, I just thought it was just an anonymous world out there. I'm glad to have been wrong. I've met truly wonderful people like you, Sus, who have become my friends (how strange that may be to non-bloggers) through my blog. And if only for that, it made blogging more than worth it for me. :)

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  14. Yes, Susan, I share the same bond with all my blogger friends. The comfort levels are definitely good and its a whole new world blogging brings into your life. :) These are REAL people blogging about their lives and its wonderful to know them all. The rush of feelings, the sharing and caring is almost like it's actually there. I agree, barring one or two incidents, yes, blogging has brought in cheers and smiles.

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  15. Susan - My husband thinks I'm mad when I refer to my blogging buddies as friends! The funny thing is, like Lakshmi Rajan and his wife, we too met online, and had to make up a story for our relatives ;) So I keep reminding him that if he could become my husband this way, a host of wonderful people I feel a connection to can be called my friends. I'm grateful you are one of them, Susan!
    Love
    C

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  16. Absolutely Susan...they are very special indeed. For me, I love that I can take them with me as I travel. Each new country we move to does not seem as daunting with the prospect of my blogging friends to support me thru it.
    I had lunch yesterday with a blogger and was so delighted to meet her in person. We chatted as if we knew each other for ages...special connections are to be had in blogland and you are one of them!

    Thinking of you and your special day tomorrow!

    Best wishes Susan...

    Jeanne xxx

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  17. Hi Susan -

    None of us would be in contact if we were not bloggers. No doubts on that. I enjoy blogging and I haven't been doing it nearly as long as many of you have. It's only been 5 weeks tomorrow for me. Yes, it's true. I am a virgin.....blogger, lol. My reasons for blogging may be different than yours or similar. I was spiritually moved to start writing again. Thank you for a good post. :)

    http://charlienitric.wordpress.com/2011/05/18/fellow-bloggers-you%E2%80%99re-starting-to-piss-me-off/

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  18. Well....I think its pretty ignorant to say that you have to physically see someone to call him/her your friend.

    Its funny, people are willing to pray and talk to a god they have not seen but have a completely different set of rules when it comes to human beings.

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  19. You know Deborah I think that blogging has been a life savor for me. I feel so fortunate to have the friends I have in the blog world. I feel like I can share so honestly, and receive no judgment, just acceptance and support. I hope you know that you rock my world too.

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  20. Susan

    ditto to all you have said,,,do I understand correctly it is your birthday? If so, may this year bring wealth and good fortune in the areas of family, business, knowledge and spirituality into your life.

    And if it is not your birthday, may you experience these gifts in your life anyway just because you are a wonderful blogger friend and I appreciate your blog and presence over at mine.

    joanny

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  21. I have made two real life friends through blogging. By that I mean two friends I see and talk to often. Of course, it helps that we live within driving distance of each other.
    I love to read the essays that my favorite bloggers post. I look forward to them.
    As you said, unless you do it, you can't understand it. But we become friends with people we talk on the phone at work and who we never meet, then why shouldn't we feel affinity to those we read?
    Gotta do it to understand it

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  22. I totally agree with you. The camaraderie that we bloggers share cannot be understood by a non blogger. My first experience of this feeling of well being was when Alapana whom I am yet to meet sent me flowers for my birthday. That touched my heart. I have people say "Oh you havent met this person and yet you all talk as if you have known each other for years?" Thats is what is so beautiful about blogging friends

    http://rimlybezbaruah.blogspot.com/2011/05/as-mother.html 

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  23. agree, agree, agree... gotta agree with everything here.. sometimes it feels like a whole separate existence on a different plane..


    :)

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  24. I have also found it difficult to explain how I could be going to meet someone who i have never met and only knew through blogging. But today we are also so busy at work and raising family that it is difficult to make new friends except through online forums!

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  25. Yes, I do my dear Susan, I truly share your sentiments. I have met so many incredible people and have learned so much about their every day life and shared their thoughts, happiness and pain through blogging.;) You included.;)
    And as you know, I found Elizabeth this way too - so yes, I believe one can not adequately understand what blogging is about until one tries it.;))
    Thank you for your great comment today my dear friend - hope you had a great Monday.;))
    xoxo

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  26. I thought friends are on Facebook and followers on Blogger. As I;m not on FB, I can't tell the difference or similarity.

    Anyway, if a blogger mentions his birthday or a journey on his blog I will certainly leave a comment wishing him a Happy Birthday or a Safe Journey as any acquaintance or friend would do.

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  27. I agree with all your words here Susan. Here in Blogland i got to know many talented people our world has. I got to share my thoughts, memories, reveries, everything. We got to motivate others, inspire others and and definitely theirs to us. Truly, blogging has become my second home already... as for my blog - oh, my li'l poetry room where i shared most of my feelings and emotions to the world. And i am very thankful to have found this place and to have found each of you good buddies... good mentors... my blogger friends. Thanks for bein' one of them Susan. God Bless!(:

    ~Kelvin

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  28. Yes, the blogging world can be considered as a separate planet altogether which only few people are ready to acknowledge. I get the same "but you have not met them" dialogue ever so often. But that said, a person's offline personality is different from the way he/she projects himself/herself online. We have to be wary of that...

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  29. Susan, I've been submitting comments but I don't see mine on any of the posts. What am I doing wrong? I used to see my comments on here no problem - are you receiving them? Anyway, I just want to make sure you know I'm here & still reading...

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  30. A couple of months ago someone introduced me to a blogger from England ie Hilary (her blog Positive Letters). I feel like a friend with her, thanks to blogger. Her father had made a trip to Hyderabad and I am from Hyderabad. I lived in England for two years and I discuss things with her. This is cool.

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  31. When I first began blogging, it was just an attempt to let others read my thoughts and get their feedback and suggestions. But what came out of the blogging world has been so much more. Love pours in and you feel so comfortable opening up to share your wit and woes with people whom you hardly know and the relationship becomes deeper with time. I absolutely endorse what you are saying! People who don't blog or see it as an unnecessary activity have no idea what they are missing in their life.

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  32. Hi, Susan, I'm Nacho Jordi, faithful reader of yours, I've commented here a couple of times.

    I wanted to communicate you I have chosen you for the 'Versatile Blogger Award'. It is an award conceded to blogs that discuss different matters, not specialized, so to say.

    The award establishes only two conditions:
    1- You have to tell seven things about yourself, so that readers get to know you better.
    2- You have to pass the award to another versatile blogger.

    I use the comments to tell you because there seems to be no contact email in your blog. For the same reason, if you accept the award, please grab the logo from my blog at http://www.zerebria.com/2011/05/27/the-versatile-blogger-award-zerebria/

    In any case, thank you for your blog; I hope everything in your life goes great.

    best

    Nacho Jordi

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  33. okay! too many days without a post. Hope all is well.

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  34. Virtuality isn't all that bad. -Nods!.

    Came across this blog by chance and I must say it is an excellent read.

    Take care

    Puja

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  35. I thank you all for the lovely comments. I could not reply individually to every comment as I always do but I have read and savoured every one of your words and YES, blogging is indeed a lovely new world appropriated by some of us.

    Cheerio and big hugs.

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