is blogging romantic?
I wondered recently how I would romanticize1 blogging, and if I actually already do. I took an (admittedly shorter than I anticipated) hiatus to come back when blogging calls me again, and during that time, I missed it and I read pieces by others that reminded me again what it means to me.
What came to mind first was the idealization of solitude. Self-reflection, keeping oneself occupied, and intentional space to think and sort your thoughts. Reminds me of the movie image of a character wearing headphones or typing away at a laptop on their own - they’re usually more shy, or a loner, mysterious, in thought, or going through something. They’re in their own head and don’t want to be approached and ripped out of their own thoughts.
I think making something pretty belongs to romanticizing something nowadays. If done at a desk, I think of making it cozy and maybe a little aesthetic. Tidying it up, getting a nice beverage, turning on fairy lights or lighting a candle. Preparing some snacks. Kind of like preparing for a study session, now that I think about it. You could imagine being the main character in some movie or music video - you’re Carrie Bradshaw or Andy Sachs typing away on your laptop.
There’s also the idea of a digital keepsake, a time capsule, a diary with more design opportunities and an audience. Feeling like being part of something bigger by doing something that may survive you, imagining how people will find it after your death. I imagine my blog like a heartshaped locket necklace and my blog posts are in the locket.
It’s also enabling us to romanticize other, unrelated aspects of life. A normal day becomes more special by shining the spotlight on a very small aspect of it and imbuing it with some meaning in a post. Something about the meal you cooked evolving into a story about your family home; posts feeling like you’re sending out a whisper into the forest and waiting to hear something back.
That led me to the actual topic: How would blogging fit into Romanticism2? Is blogging romantic in that sense?
Romanticism prioritized subjectivity and emotional authenticity over reason and objectivity. Blogging that’s personal and reflective (and not just how-to’s, portfolios or commercial) does this by offering a medium to express your inner life, thoughts, dreams, and struggles with a sort of intimacy and rawness that traditional publications and social media personalities lack. There’s a sort of “valorization”3 of the everyday and the mundane. Yes, technically you can find that all over the net via a million “Get Ready With Me” “What I Eat In A Day” “Outfit Of The Day” “What’s In My Bag”, but somehow those just feel performative, empty, consumerist. When people arrive on Bearblog and read the Discover section, many seem to comment how intimate and authentic the posts feel, enjoying reading mundane day reflections and week notes of others and connecting over it.
I also see a parallel between Romanticism as a reaction to industrialization, and (the return to) blogging as a reaction to mass media, the corporate internet, and homogenized social media platforms. Blogs often celebrate niche interests, alternative lifestyles, or personal struggles that resist the “flattening” of human experience into metrics and commodification via virality.
Then also, blogging in more minimalist ways (like Bearblog) without ads and popup banners and newsletter modals feels more organic, a kind of original expression not filtered through editorial constraints and SEO optimizations. To me, it could resemble the Romantic longing for authentic, unspoiled experience, for lost innocence, for nature, for the past and a return to the natural and the immediate. I recognize this whenever some people choose to talk about it in terms of returning to a simpler, older web and indulging in nostalgia, even in design.
What about the the Romantic ideal of the solitary (genius) artist that is misunderstood by society but in touch with deeper truths and their own feelings? That may be something some bloggers relate to: their role as observers, outsiders, or truth-tellers, writing outside the bounds of institutions (here: containerized social media), motivated by personal vision rather than profit, and unbound by popular taste. It ties back to what I said earlier about the idealization of solitude in the blogosphere.
Even the writing style and metaphors are a little romantic at times - “My little corner/nook of the web” “My quiet sanctuary” “My personal space” “Welcome to my digital garden” “From my heart to yours”; descriptions of a mind “wandering”, descriptions of pages of a website or blog as rooms, posts as letters. But especially when there is an emphasis on nature, landscapes, growth and plants :)
What’s blogging on the personal web within the indieweb, if not speaking your truth, resisting conformity, and making meaning through beauty, emotion, and imagination? All in the face of the alienating modernity of social media profiles and slick, impersonal websites for businesses?
But I would love to hear from you how you experience the sublime in blogging.
Speaking of romanticizing blogging, I had a little fun at the nail salon. Don't be mad at the nail tech; she really tried her best with the Bear kaomoji!
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Published 10 Jun, 2025
romanticization: describing something in an idealized or unrealistic way; make (something) seem better or more appealing than it really is. The mainstream/slang use of it nowadays online is a bit more positive than this, making it less about sugarcoating something and more about making stuff you dread to do more appealing (ex. romanticizing studying) or finding joy in the small things and putting an emphasis on things we take for granted (ex. romanticizing your own life).↩
Romanticism: historical and philosophical movement that emerged in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. My wife is a modern day romantic, unironically.↩
meaning: giving increasing value or significance to a particular concept or idea.↩