OUT FROM BEHIND THE MASK OF ANONYMITY

The blog world can be a challenge at times but rewarding similarly. I believe we all recognize that the greatest challenge in blogland is accepting the other person at the other end to be genuine, real, and sincere on all levels. The mask of the computer, with all its ability to ship information around at incredible speeds, does not provide that personal interaction, enabling an individual to make a proper assessment of a counterpart. It also provides a buffer that allows individuals to remain in the background safely, to some degree, assessing situations, conveying opinions without fear of retaliation, perhaps even studying an individual. Sound intimidating, eerie, perhaps creepy? It should be...we all need to approach this environment with some degree of caution. Otherwise, we risk the chance of being hurt - physically depending on the situations, but most definitely emotionally.

Then there is the opposite spectrum. Blogland provides more overt individuals, publishing blogs and/or commenting in those environments, an opportunity to interact with people having similar views, to possibly befriend readers in a positive way, to even meet some of those individuals and create long-term friendships. We live in an entirely different yet progressive environment when compared to twenty years ago. And the Internet is part of that progressiveness. It is only natural that it would become a place to acquire knowledge on a broad spectrum, a place to express our freedom of speech, and a place to meet and interact with other human beings.

I am part of that progressiveness I guess. The Internet has been a place for me to meet other people, to meet other gay individuals. And like any other person, I am human. I do have my inherent fears still of the Internet. Obviously that would encompass the blog world. Fortunately, I have had a positive experience blogging to date. I think one element of blogging that has caught my attention, as of late, is monitoring my readership. I like seeing where my readership is coming from....is it local? is it regional? is it within the U.S.? is it from other countries? It gets me thinking, "why or how did they come to my blog." As of lately, I have found several repeat readers stopping by my blog. But these are readers that my sitemeter picks up...not readers that are identifying themselves openly through comments.

So, I have found myself wondering why are these anonymous readers coming back yet never stepping out to identify themselves and express their thoughts. Why not share your thoughts? If you have reached a point of wondering how this post is to conclude, here goes. I'd like to take this opportunity to say to those of you who read my blog, but chose to remain in the background, come out...introduce yourself...share your thoughts and opinions openly...say HI! I know I have some readers from San Francisco, the San Francisco Peninsula, south unincorporated Orange County, and even San Diego that stop by regularly. If you fit the profile, I'd love to hear from you on my blog. I am pretty low key, generally shy initially, but love to make new acquaintances. Just come in as "anonymous," maybe type in your first name at the end of your comment if you are comfortable with it.

That's my post! Ya'll have a great weekend. Thanks to those of you that left the most gracious comments about my design work and skills in yesterday's post. I think it should help my self-confidence a tad. Hugs!