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?
