Blogger Buddies

Is it weird to feel connected to a person you have never met, and who uses a fake name? Of course it’s weird.
Connection in blogger world is not all that different than the real world. It usually comes when two people come together and share each other’s stories. They identifying with either each other’s laughter or their pain and as they walk along this path of life, they support the one who they now call friend. It is the way friendships have always been built and thus trust is formed between strangers.
In real life I gravitate toward people who are not to wordy. You know those people who in conversation are continually waiting for you to stop talking so they can talk? Those types of people I tend to keep a distance from. There are times when I am around such a talker, I will smile and listen, but in my mind I am saying to myself, do not say a word, not a single word in response, for if you do, that will send the talker down another rabbit trail and you will be here forever.
It is the same for me in blogger world. I gravitate toward bloggers, who know what they have to say and can say it concisely. My preference, I want them to say their peace in or around 500 and at the outside 1000 words. I know that makes me sound a bit ridged; I guess that is because maybe I am rigid. If a blogger touches me with their humanness in those few words, I will likely hang around. In my rigidness I have one more requirement. A fellow blogger must be willing to now and then come by Grayquill world and read my 500 to 1000 words and make a comment. Call me rude and selfish but it seems to me that is common blogger etiquette and respect.
When a connection has been formed with a blogger, we then consider them blogger buddies. So when the blogger buddy bows out of blogger world, it is a loss of a buddy. Sure we want to minimize the impact of these losses with logical thoughts like, ‘I don’t even know this person.’ In a sense that is a true statement, after all we only know what we have been told by our blogger friends – it could all be a lie. For sure, we do not know the whole truth. Heck, all one has to do is look at Grayquill’s blog and my own blogging tactics. I only share what makes me look good, right?
If you read the comments in my post, you will know right off that blogger buddies are much nicer than those in the real world. I think that is partly because there is no real responsibility with a blogger friend. The worse offense we can commit toward each other is to read their post and not leave a comment. Sure, we could leave a rude comment, but most of us humans have basic human relationship skills and know not to do that.
All this said, Arkansas Patti has chosen to bow out for a time. She will be missed! She seemed to me to be as human and flawed as the rest of us, which allowed me to identify with her and her journey. I feel at some level I learned to know her – thus a connection. Patti you will be missed. Your writing is always down to earth, and felt real – thank you for the many enjoyable reads.
(594 words – just so you know) :)