Why Do I Write This Blog? (Or, My Thoughts on Healthy Living Bloggers and GOMI)

Yesterday, I was introduced to a website called GOMI, or Get Off My Internets. It's a snark site for a lot of things, but one of its sections is Healthy Living Bloggers as well as Running Bloggers, who are a subset of HLB's. Lo' and behold, I found almost all of the popular bloggers ("Big Bloggers") I read have their own thread in forums with pages and pages of people making fun of them, complaining about them, and snarking about them.

Before we dig in, a bit about me: I used to read the gossip blog Oh No They Didn't almost every day (I still pop in every week when things are slow) and stayed up late reading comments on, and commenting on, celebrities I could only dream of meeting. I mean, I especially love a good gossip session with my friends where we basically rant about people we know and work with. There's a certain thrill in talking about someone behind their back. Is it immature? Yes, absolutely. Is it fun? Yep. Would I hate it if I knew other people were talking about me? Oh, absolutely. But it's hard to care.

On GOMI, it's the same way. People are basically gossiping in plain sight, and even taking it one degree further and researching the Big Bloggers' old blogs/places they've commented to get more information about them. Don't get me wrong.. I had a good cackle at a few of these. I also learned a few things about the "actual" (quotes because who really knows) personalities of some of my favorite bloggers - who is really shy, who is actually a bitch, who is really friendly, etc.

I mean, obviously I know to take all this with a grain of salt - the people who comment on the forums are there to snark and to be mean, and embellishing certain aspects of someone's personality to better fit how the snarkers perceive them is to be expected. But it's still interesting to see the contrast of all the Big Bloggers commenters on their actual page ("omg I love this recipe!", "you are so pretty!") to all the GOMI commenters ("she is so boring", "another pic of her breakfast? fascinating"), and it really got me thinking as to why I have my little blog.

(side note: Of course I checked if I'm mentioned on there. Of course I'm not, in any way. I laugh that I even toyed with the idea that I might be.)

So, why do I have this blog? Well, first it was to document my first marathon. I wanted to be kept accountable for all my runs/cross training, and I thought that maybe if someone was trying their first marathon too, my posts might be able to help? But I struggle with this reason, because I wasn't really putting any scientific information in my posts - just, "This is what I did, and I felt okay I think" blahblah. So, was I really posting for anyone but myself? I don't really think so.

This blog is also a way for my parents to keep up with me while I'm living in another state. I'm sure they're the only ones who appreciate the pictures of myself and the small updates about my day (when I give them).

Hi, Mom!

And... those are really the only two reasons. To be kept accountable (re: for me), and to update my parents on my life without having to call them everyday. I can't really think of any other reason, because if I say I think my life is so interesting that people would want to keep up with it, then damn that's narcissistic.. and unrealistic. I'm just a normal person, living a normal life.

Normal...ish.

Maybe it's just an easier way to keep a diary that's easier to write in, prettier to look at, and as a bonus I get to put pictures and recipes in it?

Do I wish I was so popular that I was getting sponsors and free trips and free races thrown at me? Well of course. I love to travel and I've really enjoyed the few races I've run - it'd be cool to get those entree fees comped. The likelihood that that will happen is so small, though. And it'll stay small unless I make a big change - attend a conference, network, or start reaching out. How motivated am I to do that? Not very.

$$$$

Are there moments when I've been reading certain blogs and asked myself, "Why is this blog so popular? This is a post about her breakfast." Oh yes. And the answer is simple.. It's popular because it just is. They worked hard in the beginning (and at the right time, when not everybody and their dog was blogging) and now they can slack off because they live off of sponsors and ads, and have stopped devoting their time to commenting on random blogs to get traffic and now just sit back, relax, and do their thing.

GOMI probably helps their blog traffic as well - people love to hate things, and you can only hate something if you care enough to look at it every day. Blessing in disguise, y'all.

Anyways. I guess I just wanted to acknowledge that I know my blog isn't showy or unique. I know it doesn't have pretty pictures of food, nor does it have unique circuit workouts. I don't run 6 minute miles, and I don't dress very stylishly (when I do get dressed. Let's be real, mostly I just stay in my pajamas/work out clothes all day). I don't post recipes I've made up myself. I'm pretty average, and this blog highlights that fact.

But I like having a way to connect with the few people who read this, and at the very least I like having my own website- a place to call my own.

:)