I keep posting to the wrong blog because Tumblr won’t let you change your primary blog account but I don’t want to change the name because then I lose all you creepers who never let me know who you are but definitely read my blog because I’m totally not just mumbling down the dark tubes of the Internet.

But you know what? I’m not a professional blogger. I knew that even before I read the 15 Reasons You’ll Never Have an A-List Blog.

So who cares if my posts are sporadic and topically wishwashy? Not me. Not you three people who I know for sure read this.

Guess I’ll have to get my 15 min somewhere else, eh, Warhol?

This whole Tumblr at NYFW has got me thinking about niche and blogging. I’m home most of the day. I’m a writer - even if I didn’t finish my degree! And I’ve been blogging in some form or another for at least 11-12 years. 

After putting my blog through the awesome website Tumblr Stats and noticing some trends in type of post, I’ve decided to start making a shift. I have to go through all 1648 posts and weed out the trends in topic of post and see if I can have a go at making my blog a little more thematic.

Don’t worry - I won’t stop randomly saying shocking or weird things and going on rants. I don’t think. Or maybe I’ll make a Tumblr called Lanii Rants and do them all there. We’ll see.

At any rate, stay tuned!

L

One of the things I love about Tumblr is that it’s not a blog.

It’s not a forum.

It’s Tumblr: a place to post whatever it is you like/enjoy/admire/find inspiring and then other people can “like” it or “reblog” it, which is another way of liking it. Replying to a regular post by reblogging it, especially a text post, is purposefully difficult - having to navigate down the original post and all the other reblog/replies is not only annoying but it can become very hard to follow the “conversation”.

And so, if you are soliciting a response - which a post in and of itself is not necessarily doing - you have to actually ask question with a question mark at the end and select “Let people answer this”.

Clearly, Tumblr is not set up for back and forth conversations and therefor is inherently a very postive place to be. If you like/enjoy/admire/find inspiration in something someone else posts, you can like and/or share it! You don’t even have to follow the Tumblr if you don’t want. And if you don’t like it, you just move on with your life. No need to go through the trouble of reblogging and replying and getting all hot under the collar talking to someone who may not even ever bother looking at your addition. When I see someone’s reblogged one of my posts, I just think, “Cool”. If someone follows me, then I check out their Tumblr and see if I want to follow back. But I definitely do not check to see if the reblogger has added on to the conversation. Because, to be frankly honest, if I haven’t asked a question, I don’t care.

I don’t use Tumblr as a place to have a debate because it’s a terrible place to have a debate. I post what I like or feel and you can consider it a declarative not an interrogative. Unless, of course, I ask a question and select “Let people answer this”.

If I post something you’d like to have a debate or discussion about, feel free to email me at laniibegood{at}gmail.com. Otherwise, don’t expect a response.

This is not the YouTube Comment section - as fun as they can be. And this ain’t Blogger.

This is Tumblr.

Respect the design.

P.S. To the those who reblogged my atheism “rant”, which it definitely was not, in order to start a debate should email me if you’re open to talking. If you’re just systematically going through my post and trying to refute my statements (which I have no idea whether you are or not because I haven’t read your reblogs) then, enjoy your “me time”.

Sometimes I write a post and I start thinking about the person/people who it’s intended for and I wonder…

• will it be received in the spirit in which it’s being given?
• is this the right context for this conversation?
• will the person learn/change their mind/grow (or will they become defensive/offended/angry)?

If the answer to any of those questions is “No”, I cancel the post.

More people should do that, if you ask me.

I have to stop microblogging and writing short stories and short scripts. I see an article that’s three pages long and I heave a sigh and put it away. I’ve been struggling to write a feature length script for months now. All I watch are TV shows and movies feel like an eternity.

I will read the two New Yorker articles sitting my tabs. I will!

Later…..

Just to cement my authority in the Nasty Comment Debate (which I’m having with myself and perhaps my 12 followers…?) I used to have a blog in which I addressed such heavy topics as religion, the environment and politics. I would have strangers rip me a new one all the time - or try to. I went on a months-long comment debate with a guy named Bob who I will never forget.

And you know what? I think I’m the better for those experiences. Having someone say to you, “Oh, yea? Prove it!” is the best if not the only way to really, well, prove it. Prove to yourself that you know what you’re talking about (or that you don’t!). Prove to the readers that you’re right or that side of the argument is right or better.

Were those trying sometimes? Did I complain to family and friends about it sometimes? Did I lose sleep sometimes? YES! And…..SO….WHAT!? My ego wasn’t so grand that the least bit of bruising knocks me off my feet. Never did I say, “THAT’S IT! I’m pulling the comment section! I just want everyone to LOVE ME!!! WHY WON’T THEY LOVE ME!?”

There’s something kind of pompous, you have to admit, about having a blog where you just tell people what to wear/like/think/do or what you wear/like/think/do without the opportunity to talk about it. That is NOT what the Internet is about, dammit! I mean, posting pretty/interesting pictures, links to articles, a song that’s stuck in your head or a new band you just discovered - that’s one thing. That’s about sharing and inspiration.

But to have a blog where you post what you’re wearing and why without giving your readers the option of saying it’s great or that they wouldn’t have put those shoes with that skirt is just egotistical and shallow. You’re not that wonderful and neither am I. And maybe, just maybe, those shoes DON’T go with that skirt. It is within the realm of possibility (I just like saying ‘realm of possibility’).

Ok - issue thoroughly processed. Moving on to another screen capture post. Prepare to be riveted.

I’m just going to throw this out there.

A blogger I follow made a big stink in a post about negative comments on her blog and other blogs she followed. I, personally, think some of her opinions were rude and unfounded. For example, she accused someone, whose only ‘crime’ was to mention that they didn’t prefer being seated behind someone wearing an oversized hat while they were trying to report on something, of just being petty and jealous that they didn’t get a front row seat to the action. Then, in her rant, she expressed her belief that most people leave rude or negative comments because they’re insecure.

In the comment section of this particular post, where she’d welcomed people’s opinions on 1. Why people leave rude/negative comments and 2. Whether or not she should get rid of her comment sections, the majority of people said, to sum up, “If you can’t stand the heat, get your ass out da kitchen.”

When you’re writing about something as subjective as art and fashion, something whose very worth and viability in society comes from mankind’s subjective opinion as to whether it’s ‘hot or not’, you can’t get all pissy when someone doesn’t like your outfit and tells you about it. Basically what this blogger ended up saying was, “I’m doing this for me, not you. If you don’t like it, too bad. I don’t care what you think.” Which leaves this reader wondering, “Then why do I care what YOU think?”

And I gotta say, I was a little put off. I left a comment saying I disagreed with her opinion about ‘insecurities and jealousies’ regarding the issue that spurred her post and agreed with previous comments that relayed the painful truth that out here in the Internet you are exposing yourself to crazies, yes, but also well-warranted criticism. Who are YOU, anyway? Who am I? Who cares what I write or if I post a photo of flowers or a link to a song? I mean - the whole thing’s ridiculous when you think about it.

Yet, here we are. This relationship comes with certain risks and I think that when you start to make your blog precious, you’re not doing anyone any favors.

So, the end of this story is that she pulled her comment section - and with no warning or post saying “Guys, I just feel blahblahblah”. No more commenting for her. She just couldn’t hack it. She couldn’t deal with the fact that 90% or more of her comments were glowing and a few ‘insecure, jealous’ people didn’t like her shoes. And I don’t know why but I’m just so disappointed and so….turned off. I feel like she showed her true colors and they were sea foam green - kind of attractive but also nauseating. Who’s more insecure - the one calling out other people’s insecurities when they say things to you that you don’t like or the ones calling it like it is?

Some people have no class.

One more thing - just throwing it out there - I’ve noticed that most of the few people I follow who’ve enabled the ‘ask’ function are so damned defensive when they post their responses. What’s the point? If someone asks you a question you don’t like, don’t post it! You have total control over the situation. Do you really have to post it with a snippy reply? “I only have time to do ABC, OK? I can’t do DEF, too. SORRY!!” Just rude. Which leads me to wonder if microbloggers have short fuses….Stay with me on this. My mom just started a blogspot and the posts are rather long compared to Tumblr. I realized while reading it that my first reaction was “Ughh…I’ll have to get to this later.” Maybe we’ve been conditioning ourselves in this little bubble of quick, easy ‘look at me and my opinions on food and art and technology’ that when real human beings with QWERTY keyboards are added to the mix beyond ‘liking’ and ‘reblogging’ our facade falls off and we show our seafoam innards.

I don’t know. Thoughts?