I Will Single-Handedly Revive Teen Blogging

If you are a longtime follower of self-proclaimed internet micro-micro-celebrity Jade, you might wonder why exactly I'm pursuing the writing of A Blog when nobody reads them anymore and I have Instagram anyway. If you are a long-longtime follower you might know that I have already gone down this road as a fifth grader. If you have never followed me you are very confused right now. But I digress. Here I have written down some reasons why I've started a blog, which may inspire you to do the same. Thinking on it now, perhaps it's not the best idea for someone who has never really blogged before. But oh well!

Why Should I (and Maybe You) Start a Blog?

1. Convenient Way to Talk Excessively

Someone after they mistakenly bring up MBTI types to me.

Now that we are out of the Middle Ages and people don't (usually) die at the ripe age of 20 something, most of us have a desire for something meaningful beyond merely just staying alive. This has led to a myriad of hobbies and interests for people to find interest in, and that also unfortunately means most of us differ in interests. Being a person myself, I've found most people are not very interested in hearing you talk about something they have absolutely no knowledge of. Solution! A Blog! Now you can pretend someone actually cares and babble on to the void of the interwebs.

Tying in closely with this, it's a pretty good way of relieving those pesky things called emotions. You ever have those times when you really want to talk to someone about a problem or something that's been bothering you, but don't have a person to talk to? Do you ever go to someone and rant to them then regret it mere hours later? You ever take things out on seemingly every single person in your life because you've bottled up all your feelings and frustrations? Ta-da! With a blog, you can relieve those emotions with a smashing of a keyboard, and even delete the post right after if you feel that twang of instant regret.

TLDR - A blog lets you ramble about your interests without being annoying and gives your therapist friend a break.

2. Ease of Access

If you just read that huge block of text right above this you might be thinking that a journal or your notes app would be an easier alternative. You might be thinking that you would not really like random people to judge how emotionally unstable you are. If so, take comfort in the fact that blogs get hardly any views anyway :) I myself write in a physical journal, my notes app, and use Instagram as different ways to document my life. However, it's pretty hard to keep up with those on your own time because there are just so many other things to do. So when exactly is it easy to write because the task at hand is so mind-numbingly boring...? If you didn't guess, it's school.

As time passes more websites are blocked, and the ones that aren't just don't have that same appeal anymore. I mean, you can only play 2048 cupcakes so many times. Even if you don't feel that way, it's always nice to have options. In this case, blogging is much more accessible! You don't have a strong enough connection for Instagram, and teachers are annoyed when you're on your phone, but a blog? You'll just look like you're doing work. Added bonus! Your classmates might read your blog in school since they probably don't have better things to do anyway.

TLDR - Blogging is unblocked and won't raise adult suspicion.

3. Instagram is a Hellhole 

I lack self-control. Severely. Instagram, which is my recent preferred way of documenting my life, also happens to be extremely distracting and time-wasting when I want to be productive. In the past year, I have already deleted TikTok and Snapchat but just haven't been able to let go of Instagram quite yet. I keep wanting to delete it but I liked the way it allowed me to share my life with my friends and also serve as a place to record it for myself. Lo and behold, a blog does those same things! 

I've also watched several videos recently on why quitting social media can be beneficial to your mental health and life in general. Part of it is how much time it wastes. Part of it is the fact that they seem to condition you into having a shorter attention span by getting you addicted to immediate gratification. I'm not sure how true that is, but I do know my previously avid book-reading self has not finished a single novel this year. Whether that is causation or correlation is unknown to me, but a detox can't hurt!

TLDR - Reject modernity, embrace tradition.

4. Nice to Look Back On

When important things happen in our lives, most of us just believe they'll stick in our brains. At least, that's how I feel when I go on trips with my family or learn something new. However, even if we remember those general events, we never really keep the details. Human brains are only so big and as you gain more and more life experiences, it's only natural that some get left out and swapped around here and there. This is even more true for someone like me with a subpar memory. 

Sometimes though, those small details are what make a memory special. Things like how it smelled, what someone said, and the thoughts you were having can put you back in that moment better than a picture ever could. I love looking back at any documentation I have of events in my life because it's like reliving the moment from the person I was in the past. It's not just the happy times, either. Writing about the way you feel in a moment is an amazing tool for self-growth, as reevaluating it when you've cooled your mind can teach you how to better handle those emotions in the future or alternatively better understand yourself. I regret not writing more throughout the years.

I didn't write too much about my life when I was younger, and my recent journal entries are sparse. A few years ago though, I found a diary I had kept from when I was in elementary school. It was an amazing feeling to have that, you know? To see how my thoughts have changed, to see how I've grown, to see the difference in the people I surround myself with, the way I write...not to mention, I'm only a teenager right now. I can't imagine what it will be like reflecting on that diary in a couple years, or even a decade. That's why I'd like to make the effort to write more now; I want my future self to be able to remember all those little things. In her time of desperation, to see that things get better. In her time of self-loathing, to see that she has grown stronger. I want her to remember the past so she isn't blinded by the present.

TLDR - Your memory isn't as good as you think it is.

Until Next Time

Went a little far in that last part, haha. Guess Times New Roman really gets me going--doesn't it feel like you've gotta be more sophisticated in this font? Not sure if anyone actually read through all that, but if you did just know I appreciate you. I don't have cookies or anything but if you comment I'll let you be part of the secret cult. Planning to post travel documentation for Spain next! See ya.