Blogging is a whole new genre of writing best suited for what seems like the ever shrinking attention span. Its therefore, no surprise to me that most blogs are littered with pictures and links. Meredith Badger calls them visual blogs and claims that
[w]hen we encounter images in weblogs the sense of entering a private space is enhanced, particularly as weblog images often reveal information about the blogger, either intentionally or by accident. Some weblogs include an image of the blogger at the top of the page and we carry this face in our minds as we read the text. Is the blogger young or old? Male or female? What nationality? The information imparted by the blogger’s photograph inevitably influences how we react to the words that surround it.
I completely agree! When I was first introduced to the world of blogs I was itching for some inspiration. After going through what seemed like a million blogs I found myself consistently returning to one particular blogger: Shopgirl's Shanghai. Her content isn't that interesting but based on her info page and all the pictures she posts of herself I felt drawn to her because she reminded me of myself. So even though by everyone's standards she may not have been interesting, I was interested in what she had to say because I was intrigued by our similarities. I guess a picture is worth a thousand words.
And so, given that a picture is rather revealing I have been quite hesitant to include any personal photos of myself. I don't want my image to influence the way people perceive my blog. For me this blog is about sharing interesting tidbits about life and living that may inform and inspire you. The last thing I want is to be discredited by a photo of myself. On the other hand, have I already limited myself by not including a photo? Does the absence of a photo say anything about me?
[w]hen we encounter images in weblogs the sense of entering a private space is enhanced, particularly as weblog images often reveal information about the blogger, either intentionally or by accident. Some weblogs include an image of the blogger at the top of the page and we carry this face in our minds as we read the text. Is the blogger young or old? Male or female? What nationality? The information imparted by the blogger’s photograph inevitably influences how we react to the words that surround it.
I completely agree! When I was first introduced to the world of blogs I was itching for some inspiration. After going through what seemed like a million blogs I found myself consistently returning to one particular blogger: Shopgirl's Shanghai. Her content isn't that interesting but based on her info page and all the pictures she posts of herself I felt drawn to her because she reminded me of myself. So even though by everyone's standards she may not have been interesting, I was interested in what she had to say because I was intrigued by our similarities. I guess a picture is worth a thousand words.
And so, given that a picture is rather revealing I have been quite hesitant to include any personal photos of myself. I don't want my image to influence the way people perceive my blog. For me this blog is about sharing interesting tidbits about life and living that may inform and inspire you. The last thing I want is to be discredited by a photo of myself. On the other hand, have I already limited myself by not including a photo? Does the absence of a photo say anything about me?
I like the design of your blog - it shows that you don't stand for any Myspace B.S.!
ReplyDeleteThat being said, your layout combined with your omission of a photograph (it need not be of you, or recognizable) makes it hard to relate. I like your generator angle - perhaps your personal information/photograph could portray you as some kind of sentient robot/computer? (not in a bad way of course!). Check out Remko Scha's Huge Harry project for some inspiration. He claimed to create a robot-musician-artist, but really just created a voice and HE is the stand-in for the robot. Read more here: http://www.iaaa.nl/hh/cv.html
I'm into your plainness of your blog. I took the simple route in making my blog and I can see you have as well. It's easy to read and easy to follow.
ReplyDeleteAnd in regards to the photograph, I totally understand you being apprehensive about it. I choose a photo that wasn't revealing, but still is a photo of myself. I think since we are all new to one another in the class, I think a photo of anything makes the blogger seem more approachable or "clickable." Perhaps you should find a photo that describes you instead?