X-Rated?

I think it’s probably safe to say that X is one of the least looked forward to letters during the A to Z Challenge. Or is it just me? Were any of you looking forward to X? I certainly wasn’t.

This isn’t my first go round with the A to Z Challenge. 2012 is the only year I’ve actually completed the challenge thus far (though I have to say this year is looking promising at this point), so it’s the only time I’ve made it to X. I actually kind of liked my X post that year, and it seemed to be fairly well received, so I thought I’d re-visit the topic this year.

I have to say that I haven’t been as diligent about visiting as many different blogs lately as I have been before, but most of the X-rated things from before still stand for me.

Too much personal information – yes, we’re all sharing a lot about ourselves with a lot of people, but for me there are limits. 

Language – yes, there are times when only a four letter word will do, and I’m no stranger to them, but when the post has more words I wouldn’t be comfortable using in front of my mom or my boss, I’m not inclined to keep reading.

Tone – this is a much more subtle one, but if a blog’s main intent seems to be to educate the illiterate masses (i.e. those of us who aren’t the author of said blog), or to preach a religious doctrine, or to promote a political ideal I tend not to come back.

The only things I can really add this year are blogs that are crammed full of affiliate links. The ones that sort of pose as reviews or just general blogs, but then go on to say how you can’t possibly live without this life-changing dinglehopper (points if you got the reference to The Little Mermaid!). It has improved their life in every way imaginable, and here’s the affiliate link so you can buy your very own with them receiving a small fee, but of course they’d never recommend it just for that reason.

So what is it that makes a blog X-rated for you? What has you clicking the X in the corner to make your exit as quickly as possible?

X-Rated Posts

I have to say that I was not looking forward to X, not at all.  It is probably the letter I have worried about the most during the challenge.  My usual fall back plan of googling “words that begin with” didn’t yield great results.  I just can’t see myself writing a post on Xanax or xylophones, or even x-rays (though I’m sure I’ve had more than my fair share). Then inspiration struck when I was visiting this blog, and read the Q post.  Yes, I realize it’s a bit of stretch to get an idea for X from a Q post, but here’s what happened.

I was tossing around the idea of X-rated posts as my topic, not in a dirty way (minds out of the gutter please), but in a “what makes you uncomfortable” kind of way.  I’m sure we’ve all seen a lot of different blogs, in a lot of different styles this month.  Some of the posts have encouraged further perusal of the blog, some have had me looking for the “follow” button as fast as I can, some have really made my day.  Then there are The Others; the ones that have had me clicking the X in the top right corner like a madwoman, the ones that have me feel like I need a shower, the ones that have made me feel like I overheard a conversation I really wasn’t meant to hear, and the ones that have just annoyed me in general. 

Don’t get me wrong; I really, really look forward to clicking on different blogs every day.  The vast majority have at least been a look at something from a slightly different perspective, or a new fun fact; something positive.  So I decided to try and figure out what it was that made me decide I would NOT be coming back to certain blogs, and here’s what I came up with:

Too much personal information – yes, we’re all sharing a lot about ourselves with a lot of people, but for me there are limits.  Hearing about your struggle with infertility is one thing, detailed posts about the state of your cervical mucus is quite another.  I also do not feel the need to know if you post naked or not.  I don’t consider myself a prude, that’s just not in the need to know category.  Bodily functions are also another topic that will send me clicking away from a blog in a hurry.

Language – yes, there are times when only a four letter word will do, and I’m no stranger to them, but when the post has more words I wouldn’t be comfortable using in front of my mom or my boss, I’m not inclined to keep reading.

Tone – this is a much more subtle one, but if a blog’s main intent seems to be to educate the illiterate masses (i.e. those of us who aren’t the author of said blog), or to preach a religious doctrine, or to promote a political ideal I tend not to come back.

Now for the fun part and the part that was really inspired by the blog I mentioned earlier, what are the things that you consider “x-rated”, that make you uncomfortable, or very unlikely to return to a blog?