Trust in Blogging

NOTICE: The below segments of this blog contain posts that I may, or may not, have been paid to include. There are some that claim this negates everything I have said as being untrustworthy. I'm not sure exactly *how* this is perceived to make my word less valid, but that is what they claim. ::shrug:: Who am I to argue? I'm just a lowly little woman sitting in her house in Alaska typing away at her computer. I'm not some big-wig blogger that has millions of loyal readers. Why should you believe me when I say that I have an interest in something? Why should you trust that when I make a post about something that it is something I honestly want to find again or think that someone else might have an interest in based on the content of my website?

You have no reason to trust me. But remember, I also have no reason to trust you.

I'm a borderline xenophobic. I damn near hyperventilate when I encounter someone that I don't know in a setting other than say a clerk checking me out at a supermarket, and even then if there are not others around I feel the tinglings of panic. It's something that is not easily explained and no one that does not have some form of phobia can ever understand what it is like for a person that has a phobia.

For me, trusting that I am safe when encountering someone that I do not know is a major leap of faith. I have tried dating and failed miserably. One of my friends was surprised to learn, from me, that you can find out about a man's criminal past over the Internet. I seriously do background checks on people that ask me to meet them and tend to shoot down any honest efforts to befriend me simply because I have a fear of "what if". What if that person is not being truthful about their intentions? What if they have killed someone? What if they have a nasty temper? What if they see me and don't like how I look? What if.... what if.... what if...

It's a very crippling condition and I expect to one day have it confining me to my house afraid to open the door to strangers.

So. Why should you trust me? I don't think you should. I think you should be suspect of everything and everyone and question anything you are told. I think that anyone that believes that all mankind is innately good is a fool that will end up being killed by someone.

Don't read my blog and blindly assume that I am right. It's my opinion. My take on things. It is things that have caught my eye and that I think might, just might, be of interest enough to be splattered across the Internet for others to see.

Does that make it right? No. Do I strive to be honest and to earn a trust that I am afraid on the most basic of levels to extend myself? Yes. Why should I make an effort for your trust? Why should I care if you trust what I say? Actually, I don't really care. I'm not writing my blog for the random person off the street.

According to Sifry's Alerts, February 2006, "Technorati currently tracks 27.2 Million weblogs, and the blogosphere we track continues to double about every 5.5 months". And: "The blogosphere is over 60 times bigger than it was only 3 years ago" And a final quote from Sifry's Alerts:

"New blog creation continues to grow. We currently track over 75,000 new weblogs created every day, which means that on average, a new weblog is created every second of every day - and 13.7 million bloggers are still posting 3 months after their blogs are created. In other words, even though there's a reasonable amount of tire-kicking going on, blogging is growing as a habitual activity. In October of 2005, when Technorati was only tracking 19 million blogs, about 10.4 million bloggers were still posting 3 months after the creation of their blogs. "

Sifry states that 2.7 million bloggers update their blogs at least weekly and Technorati tracks about 1.2 Million new blog posts each day. That is about 50,000 blog posts per hour. 833 posts per minute. Roughly 14 posts per second. And there is another blog added every second... that is a lot of blogs.

Seems to me that with so many blogs out there, it would be rather foolish of me to presume that anything I have to say should come to the notice of anyone other than myself and my closest friends. I certainly have no reason to lie to my closest friends and I have no reason to lie to myself, so... on what grounds exactly does what I say come under question simply because I have been paid or not paid for some of it?

I'm still saying what *I* believe in. I'm still saying what *I* want to say. I'm being selective in who I allow to pay me for things so that if I talk about a new razor guaranteed to shave a Shitzu in under ten seconds flat, you can be sure that I am honestly interested in shaving my mother's dog bald.

Read what I post or don't read it, it does not change my sincerity. Follow the links I provide or don't follow them, it does not matter to me. I present what I honestly think about subjects, I advise my friends and remind myself on what I have found and if it helps another... ::shrug:: That's kewl. I really am not in the market to compete with the other 60 million blogs out there, I'm just in the market of producing what I can for my readers and being as honest and informative as I can be - wherever I get the information from.