Last week, Kyria wrote up a few really interesting questions about blogging and encouraged us to answer these questions ourselves. So, of course, I used this chance to make it an entire blog post! Let’s talk about blogging, shall we?
When did you start blogging and why? Oh gosh, should we go all the way back to the very beginning? Like the days of Xanga and Diaryland? Because yes, I’ve been blogging since high school if we include all of my failed blogs along the way. I started this blog, though, in 2009 when I was starting journalism school. I wanted an outlet for my thoughts, a place to express myself. I always loved writing so a blog felt like a natural hobby for me to take up. We’ve been through a lot together, this blog of mine, and it’s amazing to have the story of my life from my 20s onward.
What was your first blog post about? When I migrated my blog from Blogspot to self-hosted WordPress, I lost a few of my earliest blogs in the move. So my first blog that shows up here is this one, where I give 10 random facts about me and then tag 10 bloggers. All of those bloggers are no longer blogging, so it’s like a graveyard of early-aughts blogging.
What is your most-used label and why? My most-used tag is “what I’m reading” (214 posts) and my most-used category is “Recurring Series” (590 posts). For a few years, I posted weekly “What I’m Reading” posts, so I think that’s why it’s my highest tag category. (Now I only post “What I’m Reading” updates once I have three book reviews ready and that’s usually every other week-ish.) I use the “Recurring Series” category for all of my ongoing blog series, like TGIF, Currently, Five for Friday, etc.
What is your most viewed post? And why do you think this is the case? I’m 27 and Scared to Move Out has more than 17,000 page views at this point in time. This was a really vulnerable post for me to write because I felt so silly for being anxious about living on my own in my late twenties. Until that point, I had been living with my mom and we had a great time living together. I have heard from other people that this post has helped them feel less alone because they have felt (or are feeling) the same way. Writing posts like these is cathartic for me to write, but they are also to help other people feel less alone. None of us is the only one thinking or feeling a certain way, I promise you that.
Do you answer comments on your blog? If so, what method do you use (email, post on blog, etc.)? Yes, I do! I am not as quick as some of you, but I do try to answer them as quickly as I am able to. I reply directly on my blog, after which you should receive an email (as long as you have checked the box that says “Notify me via e-mail if anyone answers my comment.”).
Do you go back to see if a blog post that you commented on got replies? If so, how do you keep track? Truthfully, I don’t. I try to remember to go back to the old post once I’ve commented on the next blog post and see if there’s been a reply but I don’t always do that. I like getting email replies, but I know that functionality isn’t available for everyone!
What blog that you still read now have you read the longest? Just like Kyria, I think it was Lisa! I can’t remember when I started reading her blog, but I think it was right before she turned 30 because I remember she went on to Paris by herself and I was astonished at that thought! At the time, I was in my early twenties and feeling very out of step with where I wanted to be in life (namely, married) and Lisa was a true inspiration for me. She reminded me that even if I didn’t find the love of my life in my twenties and was single on my 30th birthday, it would all be okay! Marriage may not be the end game for all of us. (Although it was for Lisa!) Anyway, Lisa gave me a lot of hope at that time and I am so, so grateful she’s one of the few people who stuck around in this blogging world. <3
Do you post on other forms of social media regularly? If so, where? Nope. My blog is linked on my Instagram profile, but I never promote my blog posts on there.
If you talk about people in your real life, do you use their real names? I do. For a long time, I used initials but now I just use their real names. I tend to stick to my nephews’ initials, although I have used their real names from time to time.
If you could get paid to blog no matter what you are writing about, what would your focus/theme be? This one is easy: books! I would love to get paid to write about books, bonus points if it’s not just about reviews but more of a wholesale look about the bookish life.
What topic would you choose to write about?
This was so fun to read! I would also love to get paid to write about books. Or about parenting, maybe?
I think the first post of yours I ever read was about being a highly sensitive person. I am pretty sure I found it via Modern Mrs. Darcy and loved it so much I got hooked!
Oh wow, I love that detail! Did I comment on MMD blog or did someone link to my post (if you know!) I am intrigued!
Yay! I am so glad that you did this too! I think you may be the second longest blog relationship that I have, although I cannot really remember when I started reading your blog. I am guessing it was in the 2011-2012 era? If so, not too long after you started! I remember Lisa’s trip to Paris too. I think I read hers before that, but not too far before that probably. I think I went to meet up with her for the first time in 2011, but I cannot remember when we started our connection.
I would travel and write about travel. I am planning on doing that this year so maybe my dreams will all finally come true! 🙂
Yes, I think you are my longest-running blog relationship after Lisa! I think I started reading your blog because Lisa mentioned you? Or maybe I kept seeing your comments on other blogs. I can’t remember!
Wow, you have been blogging for a LONG TIME! And so has Lisa- I had no idea. I’m relatively new to it (about four years in) and I feel like I’m relatively new to your and Lisa’s blogs as well.
Your last question is tricky. I’m not sure what I would write about! i mean I obviously like writing about running, but after a while there’s only so much you can say about it. I love the more personalized posts, for the reason you mentioned. If we’re thinking or feeling a certain way about something, other people definitely are too, and it’s fun to make that connection. At the same time, it’s fun to read about people’s lives that seem completely different from ours- and realize we still connect on certain levels.
Yeah, I like having the ability to write about whatever I want, honestly. It’s fun to write about books but I also like sharing my life and talking about things OTHER than books, too. I love reading blogs from women living a life so different than mine! And you’re right – we can still find similarities and ways to connect even if we are different.
I’m answering these questions on my blog on Friday!! Great minds!!
A lot of our answers are the same! I would also write about books and my books label is definitely the most used. It’s crazy because we are such different people, but alike in some fundamental ways!
Yes – and if we were both writing about books, we would write about them in entirely different ways! That’s what’s so beautiful about it. <3
Yessssss! I am here for this post.
I’ve been blogging since 2011 and it’s crazy that I only found the Cool Bloggers recent-ish. Sometime in the 2019 and onward era. I don’t remember how I found you, but I feel like one of the Cool Gals linked to you. I did lurk for quite a while before I started commenting.
My answer to Kyria was that I wouldn’t want to get locked in to having to write about one thing. I like writing about All The Things.
Oh wow – I didn’t realize you have been blogging for that long! It’s amazing how many of us were blogging without knowing each other until recently. I’m so glad we found each other!
I also like writing about…just about everything!
I’m a newbie to the space. I read Laura Vanderkam’s blog and Young House Love for years, but in the “cool bloggy” circle – hmm. I think it might be Coco’s blog I’ve been reading the longest?
It would be hard to ONLY write about books and the bookish life. I do like being able to open up about my life as a whole!
Gosh, what don’t I write about? I feel like I am all over the map. Sex! Books! The grocery store! Nothing is off limits, it seems. My friend Allison is the longest blog I have been reading that is still being written! All of my OG blogging pals have closed their blogs now, other than her. Next runner up would be Suzanne. I remember before her baby was born, and her baby is now ten! So that’s a while. Oh, and Swistle, I have been reading Swistle for eons, probably since 2009 or 2010.
It goes without saying, but I am so glad we are bloggy friends!
So many OG bloggers still around – that makes my heart happy!
You are so kind with your words, Nicole. I am so very glad we found each other!
I started blogging in November of 2005, and most of my bloggy friends from back then were IRL friends, and it was a lot of fun, but they all quit eventually. I found the Cool Bloggers group via NaBloPoMo in 2022, because Engie came to my blog a few times, and I went to check out her blog, then found San’s place.
My longest term blog friends that are still around are Nance and Alley Bean. There are MANY posts on my blog with only them checking in. They’re both very loyal, and have great blogs as well.
I read your post about moving out at 27 with great interest. My daughter still lives with us, and has no desire to move out (that I can see), and she will be 28 at the end of March. We live in the Bay Area, which is REALLY expensive, but she could manage it if she had a roommate, I think. I’m not about to kick her out though. I like having her here. But we do sometimes worry about her self confidence, and whether she feels like she could manage on her own.
I’m so glad we found each other’s blog!
I joke to my mom frequently that I just want us to get a big house together. I cannot afford to buy a house on my own, but I could do it if we went in on one together. But I also do love having my own space separate from her. It was a hard adjustment, but I knew I needed to do it to show myself I could. It’s hard, though. Rent is SO expensive and a lot of time it just makes sense to stay at home, especially if you enjoy living with your parents (like your daughter does!).
I totally cheated and commented on your first post. How time flies! Congrats on keeping with this outlet. I adore reading your thoughts.
I loved seeing that comment – thank you!
And thank you for such kind words. That means a lot!
Oh, I thought of doing this for my blog after I read Kyria’s, too! I should do that. I do love a peek behind the scenes.
This was so fun to read and I am glad a few other bloggers have picked up this “interview style” blog idea… it’s so awesome to read these facts about long-term bloggers. I feel like I’ve almost been there since the beginning… and I also definitely had a XANGA Blog 🙂
Xanga! What a trip down memory lane, haha.
Awww I am so touched by your comment about me being an inspiration to you! I didn’t have any examples of single women who were happy, single, and thriving in their 30s until I met Nilsa who no longer blogs. By the time I met her, she was married but she met her husband in her 30s and had kids in the latter part of her 30s. Nearly every oyher woman in my life from college friends to aunts to cousins got married in their 20s (some unhappily…). So it was nice to see that there was another path. You talked recently on your podcast about how you needed to get to a point where you were happy with your life despite your relationship status. That is what I strove for as well and I did achieve it – and then I met Phil months later! But even if I had met him, I knew I would have a full and wonderful life.
I think if I was paid to write, I would probably write about financial topics? I’d love to work more with financial literacy, maybe when I am retired?
You were – and are! – a huge inspiration to me. I should have credited that idea I talked about on the podcast to you because I remember you saying the same thing, and it was something that really impacted me. I am in such a better place now in my 30s – still hoping for romantic love but also having a full, happy life without it.
Financial literacy is so needed in our society! I love when you talk about financial topics!
Blogger to WordPress… oh, the good ole days LOL
Its so fun to see people that have stuck with it through the years!!!
Oh man, that Blogger-to-Wordpress migration was SOMETHING, haha. It was such a scary endeavor!
How is it that I never read that first post of yours? Do you still love Russia, Tommy Boy, and Kelly Ripa?
I am such a newbie in the blogger space, and still haven’t really found my footing. I don’t like to post TOO much personal stuff since, well, one never knows who will find one’s blog, but I also don’t like to hold back too much, given how much others share. I am in awe of your ability to be vulnerable with those of us out here in Bloglandia.
I think I found you through Kim’s blog, actually! I, too, lurked for a long time before commenting. I never think my comments are interesting or contributing to the conversation, so much of the time, I’ll think, eh, they don’t need or want to read my thoughts. So thank you for always responding to my posts – and being so kind when you do so. Yours is one of my favorite blogs. <3
I am still fascinated by Russia – more the arts/culture and less the politics, of course. Tommy Boy is still my fave movie! But I am less enamored with Kelly Ripa than I was in my twenties, haha.
I just want to say that I ALWAYS look forward with an Anne comment. You always have such insightful comments and it always makes my day to see them from you. You are such a valuable part of our blog community!