When I first started blogging - more than a year ago at Psychology Today, and three years ago here at the Huffington Post -- I never imagined that it would become one of my favorite things to do. But I do (mostly) love it. Let me count the ways.
I. I LOVE IT
1. I love the immediacy of it.
When the Atlantic magazine tells single women they should settle, when Susan Boyle becomes the new voice of the ever-single woman, when Ed Rendell claims that Janet Napolitano has no life because she's single, if I can set aside everything else, I can have a post online in a matter of hours. Singlism doesn't go unchallenged for long, and singles-enlightenment gets its due.
2. I love the grass-rootsiness of it.
When Singled Out was still just a proposal, plenty of publishing professionals said that singles don't want to read about anything other than how to find a date. As my friend Susan quipped, those are people with more power than insight. With blogging, we can create our own power. And we are. The number of people who are blogging and commenting about all sorts of aspects of single life - not just about dating - keeps growing and growing.
3. I love the opportunity to spotlight people who are not the usual faces and voices.
The MSM is sometimes saturated with all the usual sources. Turn on a televised political show, for example, and you can still see Mary Matalin and James Carville, Karl Rove and Tucker Carlson, yammering like they're still The Ones. You've probably never heard of many of the people I mention and interview in my blogs, and that also means you won't know their lines before they say them. You won't be able to predict their perspectives from the conventional wisdom, either.
4. I love what I learn from blogging.
For every person like me who has the great good fortune to blog at sites like Psychology Today and the Huffington Post, there are dozens more who have smart and insightful takes on the same topics I address. They post comments and sometimes email me; I listen and learn. Because I'm a blogger, I read more -- more of other blogs, more MSM, more books. I've always been a big-time reader, but the opportunity to talk back, instantly and on the record, makes an always-tasty treat even more delectable.
5. I love the opportunity to correct the scientific record.
The popular press can't seem to get enough stories with the same bottom line -- married people win! They are happier, healthier, smarter, sleep better...you name something desirable, and there's probably a story out there claiming that you can have that good thing too if only you'd wed. Typically, there is said to be scientific research at the heart of the claim. And typically, it is all bunk. (See, for example, here and here and here.) Now, with my blogging opportunities, I can take my decades of experience teaching graduate courses in research methods and my fancy PhD from Harvard and use them to dismantle the matrimania and make fun of the silliness of it all along the way.
6. What happens on my blogs does not stay on my blogs - I really love that.
[Continue reading here.]