What happened to you? I did not read your blog.

“What happened to you? I did not read your blog.”

This sounds ridiculous, does it not?

The blogger says, “Why did you not read it?”

The reader retorts, “Why should I read it? Why did you not tell me about it yourself instead of just writing it in your blog?”

Some time ago, something happened to a friend of mine.

She decided to go overseas to pursue her education. She wrote about it all over her blog, giving details about where she was going to study, when she was going and how she was carrying out the preparations.

As far as I know, she did not tell her friends but only wrote it in her blog and “announced” her plans on the MSN nick she gave herself.

That was it.

I admit that I seldom surf her blog. Furthermore, being someone who does not chat online often, I did not know about this news until she left.

I was dumb founded when I found out. At first, I felt guilt stricken for not having read her blog regularly. But soon, another feeling overwhelmed me.

Am I expected to read her blog to find out how she is doing? Must I go online to chat before I know what happened to her? Why did she not tell me herself?

Either (1) she thinks her friends should read her blog to check out her life or (2) she does not care which of her friends know about the news, if they read her blog, they are her buddies and they should be informed, if they do not read, then she takes it that they are unimportant and do not have to know of it.

Yes, I do admit that it is my fault for not maintaining close contact with this friend of mine. But it certainly does say the same for her.

In the past, people would call their friends up to share news regarding themselves with others. Later, people turned to emails. Then to mass emails and icqing or msning. We have adjusted ourselves to all these changes and accepted them one and all. Now, blogs are the new players on the block.

But, I am holding up a “STOP” sign to the the idea of “announcing” your happenings only through the blog and nowhere else.

Blogs are just a passive tool we use to convey our thoughts and feelings. No doubt it is a convenient way to share about our life on the blogs and since it is put up on a public portal, no friends will be left out on the “news release”. However, precisely because it is a passive tool, everyone might read it, or no one would.

It is insensible to say to someone, “I wrote that in my blog, check it out there.”

Is it so hard to share with someone directly what happened to you, instead of writing it in your blog, and thinking that people should read it to find out what happened to you? If they do not, then it is their own business because they missed out on something?

We are talking about the sense of human touch here that had been and is still essential in the core of our lives.

Do not take for granted that your friends should read your blog. Take the initiative to share with them on what is going on in your life, either through the phone or direct emails, whichever is more convenient for you.

Not just on your blog, of course. Otherwise, do not blame your friends for being “uninformed”.