So why am I being such a shmuck and not participating?
It's like if you were to ask a mother who had 20 children to chose 5 of her favorites. Impossible! I really have a passion for blogs. I love them and I read many. Most of what I read are classic film blogs, but I also read general film blogs, vintage blogs, cooking blogs and craft blogs. I get so excited in the mornings when I have 30 blog posts to read and I enjoy savoring them along with my morning coffee or breakfast. There are so many great blogs. Even the bad blogs are good. My friends on Google Reader are probably cursing the day they let me start sharing posts with them!
So although these awards seem like they would be including, I would feel like I would be excluding. I already feel like I exclude with the memes. If I say "tag yourselves", others may not feel like they are being tagged. But if I tag specific people, others may be offended that they weren't included. If I were to buckle down and chose 5 blogs for whichever award, in a sense I'd be forming a clique. It's sort of a message to others that you don't belong. Or what if that blog already has received that award once or twice, or was the blog to give me the award in the first place? Should I award that blog for the recognition they have given me or should I exclude them because they have that recognition already?
I think, that if you really want to recognize someone's blogging achievements, you can do it without a forwarded blog appreciation award. So in lieu of awarding 5 blogs, I'm providing you with a list of 5 things to do to give props to those blogs which you truly believe have merit.
- Read that blog faithfully
- Comment thoughtfully and regularly
- Post a link to that blog on your blog if it's relevant
- Tell others about the blog
- Give a shout out to that blog in a post or in some other way.
I'm going out on a limb here. I'm sure I'll get some backlash. So please be kind and respect my opinion. And don't take any of this as judgement on anyone else's actions.
My last thought to share with you is that blogging is wonderful. There is a freedom in blogging that you won't find anywhere else. You can write what you want, when you what, how often you want and others will read it. You are your own editor. That kind of freedom can't be bought in the publishing world and in the blogging world it's free! And bloggers love to read other blogs and what results from that is a wonderful sense of community that we should cherish and enjoy.[UPDATE]: I've received so much positive feedback from this post, I decided to leave it up after all. I almost didn't post this but I'm glad I did. Erica from Erica's Blog really enjoyed it and mentioned this in one of her posts! Thank you Erica!
