Y’all, Katie and I are so incredibly thankful to each and every blogger who has linked up with us this week. If even ONE person (besides the two of us) gets something out of this, we’ll consider it a raging success. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for supporting us in this venture.
Now, on to today’s post.
Today? Is Q&A Thursday.
Social media and blogging are something that Katie and I are both kind of addicted to. So we decided to conduct some interviews about social media and blogging. (Because it just wouldn’t make sense to conduct interviews about waffles or cheese sticks during a week where we talk about the love of blogging. But those things DO sound tasty right now.)
Today we’re turning to the men in our lives.
Katie thought up a few questions and we sent them out to our husbands. But I modified mine because…well…Dan doesn’t blog. He’s a fantastic writer with a fantastic voice, but apparently I’m the only person who believes that. So y’all be sure to be nice to him today and tell him he’s awesome (because he is!).
1.So you’re married to a social media addict. What’s that like?
Okay… you asked!
I am still learning the aspects of social media. And that’s a bit different because I’ve typically been one to embrace new technology. And with you being an addict, there’s been a bit of adjustment period. There are times when I feel like you overcommit to social media, and it eats into our time as a family. So that can be infernally maddening a bit frustrating. But I think the key is to communicate when it starts to become uncomfortable with the amount of time spent using social media – and to also not be offended if something is said about social media doing a hostile takeover on our home life. I just don’t want to be forgotten about.
With that said, I am overjoyed that you have found your voice, and more importantly, listeners for your voice (other than me). Because I tend to be a little self-righteous (see above… and, uhh… below) when it comes to my opinions on your issues. I’m glad you have found a support system beyond what I can offer. I totally understand the need to have this in your life. I WANT you to have this in your life. It makes you happy beyond happy, and that, in turn, makes me happy.
And that thing you do? When you’re tweeting and typing away while I’m speaking? Even though you’re listening to every word I’m saying, it seems like you’re not. And that’s annoying. Thanks, Twitter! Social media eats attention spans, even when they are not really being eaten.
2.You are involved in social media as well. I am sure your interests are different. Why and for what reasons do you primarily use social media?
I have mainly used it to keep up with friends, usually old friends, some new. Isn’t that the whole point? SOCIAL media? I also have a difficult time talking to people on the phone, or face to face. Maybe a bit of social anxiety. With social media, I can keep up with the details of someone’s life without asking them about it. And I don’t have to worry about saying something incorrectly. I can type and edit before hitting Send.
As far as my interests and hobbies, I do follow a few athletes and celebs on Twitter. Twitter is definitely very cool to read straight from the horse’s mouth. But I mainly use social media to communicate with established IRL friends and acquaintances.
3.You don’t currently blog. Why not?
My default answer is that I’m too boring to blog.My repetitive life just isn’t interesting enough to garner followers. And the best aspect of my life is Joshua, and you blog about him quite well. But if I did blog, I think I’d be halfway-decent at it. I can be a pretty good analytical writer when I put my efforts into it.But the time that goes into getting followers is WAAAAY beyond my attention span. If I don’t have 100 people following me by blog post #5, I’m done.
At least I know I’d have one follower.
4.If you DID blog, what would you write about and why?
Food. Without a doubt in my mind, without a doubt in your mind, it would be a food blog. We’ve established that I pretty much rock in the kitchen. Even though there are tons of food blogs out there, I’d create one more to add to the mix. Seriouseats.com has pretty much raised the bar on food blogs, but I’d do my best to equal something on that level. I’m no chef, but when I cook food using simple ingredients and simple techniques, I know the results are usually going to be good.And I can review with the best of them.
5. What did you think when you found your wife’s blog?
I found it earlier than you thought I did; probably around April of ‘08. I wasn’t surprised at all. It’s no surprise that you enjoy communicating, so this would only make sense. Much of my impression was based on what a blog meant to me at that time. I occasionally read blogs, but only if I stumbled upon them doing a Google search. I only knew a blog as being a place where one could share his or her thoughts. That’s all. It wasn’t until much later that I realized that blogs could become a source of support, or establish a community.
6.Do you find it positive or negative that the two of you are privy to each others’ business in the internet world?
Definitely positive. I see it as something we can bond over and mutually enjoy. The camaraderie of loving and loathing the same things (and people) online is fun. And sometimes it’s more fun to have a discussion through e-means, rather than talk to you on the same couch I’m sitting on. Take one couch, two adults, two laptops, and a sleeping toddler… hilarity ensues.
7.Anything else you would like to add?
Yes. This is an edited version of my first response, which really made me sound like one seriously bitter douchebag. That’s not who I really want to be known as, since I fancy myself as a pretty nice guy.
I really enjoy doing occasional guest blogs and questionnaires like this. My more frequent activity on Twitter may result in dipping my toe into blogdom. I don’t know. It wouldn’t be updated very often, but quality over quantity, right? ____________________________________________________________________
Just so y’all don’t think I’m totally awful, I developed the ability to type while talking and not seeming to pay attention to anything in particular when I started teaching. It was one of the Teacher Gifts that God gave me when I graduated. (The other is supersonic hearing.) I use it to pay attention to my students when they think I’m not paying attention. It keeps them on their toes. And I get to multi-task.
It’s not something I mean to do, but sometimes I can’t turn it off.
I also think he should start a food blog. Even if it’d just be another food blog to add to the mix. Because my husband is a great writer and food is a passion of his. So I think he needs an outlet for that passion. Because sometimes he wants to talk about the details of the food and I just want to eat the food. I even have a title all picked out for him. And a tag line. But he says no for now. ::sadface::
And yes, we Tweet each other whilst sitting on the same couch. Or email. Or gchat from different rooms. With a toddler who doesn’t sleep very well, you’d do whatever you had to do to keep the house quiet in the evenings, too. Trust me.
Here’s your “assignment” for today.
Let’s continue this interview. If you have a question for me, leave it in the comments. If you haven’t already figured this out, I kind of love having conversations with y’all in the comments section. So if you have a question, I (maybe) have an answer. It can truly be about anything, even things in this post that are tough for me to talk about. I’m good with that.
Similarly, if you have a question for Katie, you can leave it at her blog.
If you have a question for both of us? Leave it in either place? I guess? Or both?
Katie and I are going to use this time to catch up on the fantastic posts y’all have linked up and get our giveaways ready for tomorrow. And we have some serious giveaways!
