Many people are surprised when they realise or I tell them that I have a website. What do you put on it? Or just plain... Why?

Well, it's a good question really. 'Just stuff' is my usual answer. You need to remember that back when I started this there was no FaceBook, no Twitter, I don't think even Myspace existed yet.

It was October 2003 when I first started and to be honest the idea was as alien to me as it still is to some people who hear about it now. Certainly at the time I had no idea that a decade later I'd still be using it, adding to it. People around me were talking about domains and how one day they'd be worth money (and they were right) and people started registering domains in their name in case they wanted them one day in the future. They were very forward-thinking and they knew if they didn't get what they wanted whilst it was cheap they'd regret it later.

For me it was just a bit of a lark. I got my own personal email address. I'd just started using "Girlie_Biker" as a nickname on the interweb in general (or a variation of it) so I looked for this domain and it was free. There wasn't even really anything taken that was similar, so I figured I'd take it, play with it and who knows, maybe one day sell it to someone who wanted it even more.

As time goes on I am pretty sure I won't sell it. These days it's not unusual to share lots of elements of your life online. When I started it felt strange to think that people I didn't even know were going to read about me. But then again - if I didn't know them, did I really care what they thought? Not really. It was really just an outlet for me to talk about my bikes, life and stuff in general. Somewhere to put some pictures up and share my poetry. I don't think I get too personal online, I don't feel I give too much away or share too much.

These days almost everyone is on FB, almost everyone shares everything, some people in my opinion share way too much. It's almost an addiction, it's more important to catch up on FB than it is to actually go and see that friend or make that call. That's the wrong way round in my book. Yes, I've escaped into video games and internet games for spells when I needed to, but I've never worried that my friend count is too low or that I've been unfriended or a comment 'not liked'. Life is too stressful without adding more.

Unfortunately now that FB has become such big advertising business it can be almost impossible not to join FB. I did give it go, I admit, but I failed miserably. I hated the fact that so much was so easily found by so many (yes I know you can set privacy etc, but not enough in my opinion). More so now with the constant adverts being pushed at you and your friends (FB uses information about you to decide which adverts to push at your friends) I am even more glad that I resisted.

Here there is no pressure. I do not mind if no one comes to see or everyone. I am not offended if they don't like what they find. I am not offended if my friends don't check in regularly, they're busy people. If they find themselves here and like what they find, great! I never feel that people feel they 'have to' say something nice. People come every day and say nothing. That's fine by me!

FWIW (for what it's worth) of the "big two", I preferred Twitter. It's easier to see when something has been directed to you, you don't feel so bad if you miss a lot of tweets, I have met some fabulous individuals through Twitter and actually found my photographer there for my photoshoot.

Copyright © 2003 by Girlie_Biker.  All rights reserved.
Revised: 07 Jul 2012 11:45:24 +0100 .