Jonny writes:
"Peacocking" is part of why I detest Facebook. I have an account but just keep it to stay in "contact" with old friends and rarely post anything except for the occasional semi-humorous status update. I have a couple of "Friends" who obviously peacock and I find it rather annoying and a bit sad, although also understand that it is part of their way of boosting self-esteem and having some sense of community.
But give yourself a break about your blog - you actually use it mainly (I think) to connect with folks of like interests, such as your radio crowd and fellow watch enthusiasts. As I've told you, I don't really have any "watch buddies" so your blog actually serves a purpose for me and others. I suppose you could say the same about Facebook, but for some reason blogging seems a tad more legitimate, at least in my mind. Maybe it is because it is usually around a specific topic of interest; it is "phenomenological" not just voyeuristic or attention-getting.
I've tried blogging a few times over the last decade and a half and never been able to maintain it for more than a few months. Disciple of Chronos is just for a bit of fun and as a way for me to think aloud about all things watches. I'd almost be happy to stick to replying on your blog, but I like to post pictures and do wishlists and other nerdy things, so I started Disciple. It only gets about 100 hits a day, although I've only been doing it for maybe six months. Anyhow, I don't expect or care for it to get much larger. Maybe if it was an actual blog about "serious topics" I'd be more interested in that, but for my purposes small-scale is fine.
Actually, I did start two other blogs at the same time as Disciple about two areas of interest for me that could actually involve greater depth, but I just haven't gotten them goinging: "Zen Agnosia" for all things philosophical and "Imaginal Worlds" for discussion of fantasy and my writing. There are only a few entries on both, but here they are:
I enjoy Facebook----and with a few exceptions, my own peacocking is usually limited to a photo of a dinner I cooked or something equally mundane. I did upload photos of a home addition I'm having done (that's turning into an eight month project instead of the eight weeks the contractor promised----don't even get me started). But I viewed that as being less about bragging and more about showing what's going on in my life and also showing the source of some anxiety I was/am having with the contractor building it. Some people take photos when they're out eating at a fancy restaurant---and I answer with photos of me cooking stew in a crock pot, almost as a protest----my child and I eating home on a Saturday night while they're out on the town. But I find that blogs like this one are better in a lot of ways----because the discussions often are more in depth and interesting than anything on Facebook. Also, here----I find that I'm more interested in what others have to say than I am about saying something myself. I love reading this as much or more than I like writing. On Facebook----I think most of us are far more interested in what we ourselves have to say than in what our "Facebook friends" are saying.
Posted by: Angelo | January 27, 2013 at 10:21 AM