An online presence

Yesterday I watched some of the TikTok videos of a young Maldivian guy named Hussain Ali (https://www.tiktok.com/@beinghusseinali). It was sort of like blogging through the use of videos. So I guess all sorts of social media like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, etc., can be considered a sort of blogging.

I wanted to watch Hussain's clips because I wanted to know to what extent he reveals his personal life (such as feelings, emotions, and thoughts) to the public. (One instance I would like to point out is that he was candid in admitting to sobbing while watching Christopher Nolan's science fiction film "Interstellar" – which I have watched multiple times).

Although, with being overwhelmed by information overload in this current digital age, that I now have to be choosy in deciding where I want to spend my time on social media, I wanted to watch Hussain's videos because a fellow Maldivian writer brought my attention to Hussain's TikTok account.

And why I wanted to watch whether Hussain talks about his personal life was because there are times when I have doubts about my reasons for blogging and would feel that I have an attention-seeking "syndrome" and that I should be embarrassed about "exposing" myself.

This happened with my technology blogpost, too: I felt I had a legitimate personal issue there but was undecided on how much to let the public know how illiterate I am in technology and I had only myself to blame for that!

Then I discussed this with a few friends and they said that there are many people in the same quagmire and therefore, can relate to my feelings as well. That's why I wrote it, and included the part where I blamed myself for my ignorance.

Hussain, who has over 2,700 followers, has videos that show that we don't need to cover big themes in order to justify an Internet presence. In fact, some novels include seemingly trivial matters which actually make the story interesting.

So my thinking is that I should continue blogging as usual as I do now. Like Hussain, I plan to talk about things that come to my mind - without embarrassment.

I plan to come up with new and original ideas for blogposts and articles. And I would put my own "spin on" already published material by other sources. Not to mention covering issues in new angles so that visitors have interesting stuff to read, reflect on issues of concern, and think and plan about the potential ways how they can live a life that is more satisfactory than now.

Which brings me to an interesting juncture: for whose sake am I blogging? For myself? For others? Or for a bit of both?

One of my friends says that humans are "social organisms" and therefore, it is important to "express" oneself and "share" his/her life with others. Another friend says the important thing is doing the things we love for the love of doing it - for the sake of doing it with no other consideration. And yet another friend similarly says that I have to "forget the audience" and just "have fun".

My personal not-so-secret wish is that, while I personally enjoy absorbing all sorts of information from whichever sources I get them, my well-wishers benefit in some way from my writings. I find it a "serious" sort of "fun" when that happens.