ME vs. “ME”….I haven’t clicked over to Martin Devon’s site in a while since he hasn’t been blogging very regularly for the past year or so, but I surfed over there today and found this post from last month. He’s using me as an example of the difference between the way people come across in person vs. how they come across on their blogs:
This ties in with the experience I have of bloggers in person versus their blog personas. For example…Every time I’ve had a conversation with Kevin Drum I’ve found him to be smart, reasoned and clever. All that is in evidence in his writing, and… yet… when I casually read what Kevin writes there’s a sarcastic edge to it.
Now, when I go back and read his words in his own voice, I can actually hear a tinge of frustration, and hear his deep commitment to this country as a place of liberty. Is it really there? For that matter, is the sarcasm I heard the first time actually there? Who knows. But my knowing who Kevin is in real life allows me to listen to his writing beyond my own biases. But if you are a right winger who doesn’t know Kevin, how does his work read to you?
But this can all be true, can’t it? I am frustrated with politics in America, and that frustration does often get expressed as sarcasm. In fact, I learned long ago that I had to tone down my natural sarcasm in person — though I relapse all too frequently — and one of the nice things about the blog is that it allows me to vent some of that steam. And that’s a win-win for all of us. The blog is more fun for you while I manage to keep my brain from exploding. Most of the time, anyway.
