O hi, Asia!

I once had a boss who had some idiotic blog dedicated to puns. He’d walk through the office and ask, “You see the blog? New post! Check out the blog yet?” My coworkers would smile, act interested and even visit the damn blog just to get him off their backs.

I never want to be that guy; not in the least. I don’t mention my blog on facebook and as a rule, don’t ask any friends if they’ve looked at it. Everyone’s tending their own lives and I totally understand if visiting my blog doesn’t make the agenda. I’m quite Que Sera, Sera about it with the exception of this person, popping up in my inbox:

“Hey! I haven’t heard from you in forever! Where are you / What are you doing? I’m dying to hear what you’ve been up to! Show me pics! Tell me stories!”

I get this kind of message every few weeks and I never know what to do. What does this person want? Clearly, they don’t want the particulars they’re asking for; those can be gotten more quickly than composing a message to me. The person wouldn’t even need to properly “read” my blog – twenty quick snapshots of the last twenty posts are right there on the main page, ripe for skimming.

I’ve been answering as concisely and vaguely as possible, “Oh, just doing the same thing as last month. Still here.” I follow quickly with some conversational mirroring, “How are you doing? How’s the job / family / boyfriend? What TV shows have you been watching?”

Are some people so lazy, yet desperate for conversation that they’ll actually feign interest in someone, in hopes that the conversation will shift to them? Is it not worthwhile to spend 15 seconds longer on my blog in the name of gaining a little credibility? They’re already spending a few minutes on an email or message, a few more seconds would spare their motives from being questioned.

It’s really been happening since I first got to Hong Kong, 6 months ago. (I’m in Vietnam now.) I was venting with my sister about this phenomenon and we came up with this PR-inspired response:

“I’m flattered you’re interested in what I’m doing! Actually, all my pics and stories are on my blog: www.ohiasia.com. Of course, don’t feel like you have to pore over every post. I designed the main page to provide a short summary and key visual, so you can easily read the posts that interest you. Hope you like it, and thanks for asking!!”

What do you think: Why would someone go to the trouble to inbox me, go on and on about how they can’t wait to hear every detail of what I’m doing, but at the same time, can’t be bothered to glance at my blog?