GRIZZLY PEAR

written snapshots

Trading Facebook for Blogging

The title is more aspirational than real, especially over the past twenty minutes I just spent surfing my timeline (eek!).  However, it is also true that this past month of blogging has been primarily made possible by leaving Mr. Zuckerberg’s network for my little deserted island.  I’m not sure how things will play out over the long run, but it has been a good so far, enough to feel comfortable making a general recommendation that everyone should give daily blogging an extended try.

Since playing with the kids, eating, sleeping, and employment are all top priorities, there really isn’t much free time in my world.  Time is indeed a limited commodity!  So when I started this current run, I knew this was going to be a trade, and the only available activity was my morning devotional on social media.

At a conceptual level, the trade has been giving up the audience on an established network in order to engage with a medium that encourages longer form posts.  It’s not just the length, but the rigor that comes with writing self contained essays on an archived platform.  Facebook is great for sharing and consuming fun ephemeral content, but it is not a place for me to force myself to think.  I’m not so humble to say I’m satisfied with just shouting in the wind for myself, but for this little audience of 1 so far, it has been the right trade to take the time to talk to myself.