Thursday, August 4, 2011

If you don't have anything to say, don't say anything at all.

Back in the days when MySpace (or "My________" as it's now known) I would blog from time to time. After the Great Exile of 2007 to Facebook, I stopped. Mostly out of laziness since Facebook doesn't offer any kind of blog platform. So here I am, nearly four years later, realizing I have lots of thoughts to share. Status updates and Tweets fulfill some of my need to vomit my inner monolog out to the world, but only to a limited extent. I have much more to give than 140 characters will allow. Then again, does anyone really need to hear my inner monolog?

I became accustomed to sharing my world view with the masses back in college when I had a show on our campus radio station. Each Tuesday night if there was a particular issue that was grinding my gears, I would open up the mic and address said issue (hopefully) with a dash of insight and humor. In the several years following college, I found myself gagged and bound with no outlet. But then came social media. Blogs led the way, but were soon supplanted by brevity encouraging status updates and Tweets. I went with the crowd.

The interesting thing is, this forced brevity served me well. Not only did it force me to cut out the fat, but it also taught me a valuable lesson. In a play on the old adage, my mantra has become: If you don't have anything to say, don't say anything at all. That is, if you're going to say something, make sure it's relevant or interesting or insightful or pithy or SOMETHING. Otherwise, don't bother.

Certainly, no one is actively seeking out my opinions or musings on life. If you're reading this, it's likely because you know me or because someone who knows me linked this blog. So the least I can do is make what I have to say, well, relevant or interesting or insightful or pithy or SOMETHING. It should be more than just my inner monolog vomited out over the airwaves as 21-year-old Alex likely did far too often. I will also refrain from adorning this blog with rotating clip art. It's the least I can do.

3 comments:

  1. I've "started" 4 or 5 blogs in the last couple of years and have never shared them for others to read. The latest is misstvcritic.blogspot.com and it has an interesting introduction, but NOTHING else. No comment about television, no critique about television, NOTHING. I do commend you though and look forward to reading your relevant, interesting views.

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  2. Thanks, Kristyn. We'll see how this shapes up and how frequently I update it. I just recently started a job with Turner Broadcasting doing content for mobile devices and social media, so I've been inspired to become more involved with those areas.

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  3. Sweet. I like random insightful musings. And points for using "pithy."

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