Why I'm on forums instead of blogs

[DevilKisses]

I like to write long posts sometimes. Someone said that if I'm going to write long posts I should have a blog instead of posting on forums. I'm going to explain why I don't have a blog.

1. I don't even know what theme the blog should be. I have an extremely boring life, so I can't really make a blog about my life. I have a lot of interests, but I can't just blog about one thing because I get bored of stuff and I don't usually stay with one topic for long enough to make a blog on it.

2. Most of my posts aren't long enough. They might look long when I'm posting on forums, but they're very short when I actually try to post them on blogs. Some of my posts are very short and some of them are very long. That doesn't work for blogs.

3. It's very hard to make your blogs popular. On forums most people read and respond to what I write. That helps me figure out if I'm going crazy, better ways to express what I'm writing and learn about new stuff. If I have a blog that no one reads it's basically like keeping a diary. I never did well with diaries. To me they're pointless.

4. You have to consistently keep your blogs up for people to read them. I have executive functioning issues. That makes it very hard to consistently keep a blog. I'd rather use my executive functioning to keep my house clean, go to school or have a job. I thought someone on the spectrum would understand.

[iliketrees]

I don't think it was about posts of this length. Just some people like writing very long posts with their entire life story and have a lot to say about themselves, which isn't a problem, but they may want to write a blog too and have that as part of their profile or their signature. Some people on the spectrum are just very verbose so may enjoy writing blogs in addition to foruming. I think that was his point, but correct me if I'm wrong.

[DevilKisses]

Nov 13, 2015 18:28:46 GMT iliketrees said:

I don't think it was about posts of this length. Just some people like writing very long posts with their entire life story and have a lot to say about themselves, which isn't a problem, but they may want to write a blog too and have that as part of their profile or their signature. Some people on the spectrum are just very verbose so may enjoy writing blogs in addition to foruming. I think that was his point, but correct me if I'm wrong.

I often write posts that are longer than this one. I was just providing some reasons for not having a blog post. Even verbose people can have executive functioning issues.

[Ezra]

I wrote that. Because I was perplexed over really, really long replies.

For example:

Original post: My eyes water a lot in bright sunlight.

My reply: Yeah mine too. A lot people with autism are hypersensitive to sunlight and bright artificial light. I wear sunglasses a lot. Polarized lenses are the best.

Long post replay from someone:

Oh yes my eyes water terribly in sunlight ever since I was little it has been a problem most every time I'm out in bright sunlight my eyes water because the sunlight stings my eyes. Why just the other day when I was out with my mom, brother, sister and my sister's friend Lisa who is visiting us for a couple of weeks from Amsterdam where she sells seashells by the seashore. But yes, the sun is way too bright for me. I remember that especially when I was in school during recess, I needed to stay under a shade tree and all the other kids would tease me about staying under a shade tree instead of playing with them, but I was never very good at playing with NT kids anyways and of course NT's eyes are never bothered by the sun so they have no idea what it's like for those of us on the spectrum. Like this one time on a sunny day when I was on a ferry going from Manhattan to Staten Island where my uncle Frank lives. Uncle Frank is a barber and I prefer it if he cuts my hair because I don't like others I don't know touching my hair, especially in bright sunlight with like the OP was saying stings my eyes and makes them water. On and on and on and on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on and on.... ad infinitum

[DevilKisses]

Nov 14, 2015 2:14:39 GMT Ezra said:

I wrote that. Because I was perplexed over really, really long replies.

For example:

Original post: My eyes water a lot in bright sunlight.

My reply: Yeah mine too. A lot people with autism are hypersensitive to sunlight and bright artificial light. I wear sunglasses a lot. Polarized lenses are the best.

Long post replay from someone:

Oh yes my eyes water terribly in sunlight ever since I was little it has been a problem most every time I'm out in bright sunlight my eyes water because the sunlight stings my eyes. Why just the other day when I was out with my mom, brother, sister and my sister's friend Lisa who is visiting us for a couple of weeks from Amsterdam where she sells seashells by the seashore. But yes, the sun is way too bright for me. I remember that especially when I was in school during recess, I needed to stay under a shade tree and all the other kids would tease me about staying under a shade tree instead of playing with them, but I was never very good at playing with NT kids anyways and of course NT's eyes are never bothered by the sun so they have no idea what it's like for those of us on the spectrum. Like this one time on a sunny day when I was on a ferry going from Manhattan to Staten Island where my uncle Frank lives. Uncle Frank is a barber and I prefer it if he cuts my hair because I don't like others I don't know touching my hair, especially in bright sunlight with like the OP was saying stings my eyes and makes them water. On and on and on and on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on and on on and on and on and on and on and on.... ad infinitum

You have a bit of a point. I try to avoid that when I can. I do notice that my personal support threads tend to be longer. I can't really write super concisely about my emotions and I should be expected to. I still split them up into paragraphs to make it more readable.

[Misery]

I still say, just dont worry about it. You cant please everyone, and one way or another, alot of people these days are just too lazy to read posts of ANY length. I've had "TL;DR" from paragraphs that are like, 5 sentences. I've seen this FREQUENTLY. It's pathetic, frankly. It makes me question why in the bloody hell such a person is even on a forum, of all places, if they're not willing to read even something as short as that. That's past even my level of impatience... which is quite a feat.

And some others just arent interested enough. There's nothing you can do about that. You wouldnt get much from talking to them.

Make the posts that YOU want or need to make, and dont worry about what others may think. There are still plenty who will read over everything you say without trouble, and they'll connect with you sooner or later.

[DevilKisses]

Nov 14, 2015 7:58:59 GMT Misery said:

I still say, just dont worry about it. You cant please everyone, and one way or another, alot of people these days are just too lazy to read posts of ANY length. I've had "TL;DR" from paragraphs that are like, 5 sentences. I've seen this FREQUENTLY. It's pathetic, frankly. It makes me question why in the bloody hell such a person is even on a forum, of all places, if they're not willing to read even something as short as that. That's past even my level of impatience... which is quite a feat.

And some others just arent interested enough. There's nothing you can do about that. You wouldnt get much from talking to them.

Make the posts that YOU want or need to make, and dont worry about what others may think. There are still plenty who will read over everything you say without trouble, and they'll connect with you sooner or later.

It did help me get more replies when I did stuff like split my text into paragraphs or avoid going off on tangents. I guess I vary the length depending on context. I also do stuff like leave certain things ambiguous and clarify it on another post.

[Ezra]

I just want to make it clear that this is my own personal perspective. And I'm not claiming that I am right about this at all. Or trying to insist that others need to do things a certain way. Plenty of people disagree with me on this and I think they make good points. I guess I needed to hash this out with those willing to discuss it since it has perplexed me so long. I've been more perplexed than annoyed, but being perplexed can lead to feeling annoyed over not being able to understand something that keeps coming up (me seeing lengthy posts). I really am not trying to attack anyone and would never do something as rude as reply with "tl;dr". People should do what works best for them.

[itt2]

Splitting into paragraphs helps people, like me, who are not opposed to reading long posts, but who tend to get lost in a wall of text. The more white space there is, the more I am able to keep focused and organize my thoughts as I read. Also, in case a paragraph seems to be veering off on a tangent, I can skip to the next paragraph and still follow the main gist of the post.

Sometimes when I write a long post, I even have some sentences that stand on their own, simply because it helps to "pace" the reader the way my thoughts are spaced, if that makes sense.

[OOM]

I was actually thinking of starting a blog section too, so that people could just post updates and things without asking for suggestions or anything and just put regular stuff out to discuss. Just updates on their lives and shooting the shit. What do yall think? You can use them if you want to, or not if you don't want to, and can post either way in any part of the forum you want to, but just to have it as an option. What yall think?

[iliketrees]

Sounds good. Should my life get interesting enough to have something to write about I'd use it.

[RefrigeratorMom]

I've never had enough to say to write a blog. I've tried before and rapidly run out of steam.

I admit I have sometimes posted a "tl;dr" in a comments section but only jokingly, and made sure the OP understood as much.

You could have a blog section I suppose but it's a bit of an obligation. Suppose this site shuts down at some point, what will happen to your bloggers? And suppose someone is publishing a racist or terrorist screed at their rightplanet blog, would that get the forums shut down? I'm more inclined to let the existing public blog sites like WordPress and Blogger host those, certainly anyone can link to their freestanding blog from here if they like.

[DevilKisses]

Nov 16, 2015 5:33:49 GMT OOM said:

I was actually thinking of starting a blog section too, so that people could just post updates and things without asking for suggestions or anything and just put regular stuff out to discuss. Just updates on their lives and shooting the shit. What do yall think? You can use them if you want to, or not if you don't want to, and can post either way in any part of the forum you want to, but just to have it as an option. What yall think?

If I feel like writing a long post I could link to it on a shorter post.