500

Ten years ago last week, I started posting on Facebook. When I started, you always had to post in the form of "Kyra Moon is _____," so I got used to writing in third-person. A few months into it, even after the "is" requirement was gone, I posted this status:

Kyra Moon realized today that she thinks in third-person, and thinks about what her status is. Thank you, facebook.

As I've been approaching this my 500th official post, it's been interesting reflecting on how social media has affected how I've thought during the past 10 years of Facebook use and the past 7 1/2 years of blogging.

• Has it affected how I think? I think so. I have definitely practiced the art of describing a thought or event in a funny way. Kevin remarked once that how I wrote on Facebook wasn't quite the same as how I talked. In other words, I'm not that funny in person. (Not that I'm that funny on Facebook. But you can tell I try!)
• In some ways, this has been a good thing. When I wrote about my wisdom teeth seven years ago, I remarked, "Pain is temporary but the story lasts forever" and that's how I've tried to approach misadventures over the past several years. For example, when the car broke down near Joseph's elementary school in September, I consciously thought, "I'm going to see how funny I can make this story," so we played Chutes and Ladders. One major exception to this happened during my sister Kiana's wedding back in August. There were some really funny elements to the occasion, such as the time the stove was just left on and the house was filled with smoke and the terrible stench of burnt potatoes (funny of course because it ended up okay), but when I got mastitis I just didn't have the heart to tell a funny story about it anymore. I really could have, but I was just too sad and miserable to try. In general though, when something bad happens I immediately try to figure out a droll way to describe it. And that's probably good.
• Of course, there have been bad ways that social media has affected how I think. When I have felt lonely in real life, I have relied too much on social media to fill the void, and it has never been satisfying. Most people really won't click on links to my blog when I post them on Facebook. Most people really have their own lives to live and can't (and shouldn't) validate my blog or other social media all of the time. I had to learn that it was okay for me to put on a "performance" when I blog (as opposed to just journaling my life) but I couldn't expect an audience. I had to do it just because I enjoyed it
• As it turns out, most of the blogs I read now are just from friends who journal their lives without much fanfare, and I am glad they do it. I feel a real kinship with friends who comment on my blog and I comment on theirs in return. Although I guess they're still social media friendships, I still feel invested in them as friends because there's a two-way commitment. I am grateful for friends who read my blog, and I am especially grateful for the friends who read my blog that keep me posted about their lives too! 
• Speaking of that, I definitely don't mind nice random strangers reading this (like friends of relatives or friends of friends or whatever . . . I know of a few, but I don't think there are too many). I do like to perform, as I mentioned, and it's fun to think there is someone out there who might have gotten a smirk or two out of what I wrote. I will say, blogging sometimes feels like I've been singing loudly in the shower, gotten dressed and gone down to the living room only to find a group of friends and acquaintances sitting there. It's not that my singing was bad, but I didn't realize people could hear it! (Actually, I now prefer people to not read my blog until I no longer live by them, haha. It gives me more freedom to be goofy.)
• I tend to use a lot of Mormon language in my posts. I probably shouldn't assume that everyone who reads this is Mormon, but I sort of do. I have friends who are good about linking to definitions of Mormon terminology like "ward," "stake," and other such words, but I have never thought to until this exact minute. So, if you are coming from a non-Mormon background and reading this and have no clue what I'm referring to, I'm sorry for my laziness. Also, being Mormon is more fun than drinking coffee, so you should totally join! #sharegoodness
• So, do I regret some of what I've written? Oh, absolutely. I have used "Revert to Draft" plenty of times, even in the last month. This is not the 500th blog post I've published. And certainly not the 500th I've written -- I have 321 drafts right now. And a fair amount of those are fully-formed posts that I wrote with every intention of publishing, only to decide at the last minute that they didn't need to be published. But they sure made me feel better! If I have hurt feelings with anything that ended up getting published, I am really, really sorry. Any resentments I may have ever vented have evaporated, so don't feel guilty about my hurt feelings!
• Incidentally, when I was in 9th grade I found out I learned best by writing. Almost everyone else was a kinesthetic learner so I wondered if I'd answered everything wrong. Now I am 100% sure I learn best by writing. Now if only all that writing came out polished and beautiful . . .
• I have found that I usually shouldn't publish something written after 10 pm or before 9 am unless I've given it a lot of thought beforehand. Those are the posts that have to get reverted to drafts most often. Oh well.
• I don't have too many long term goals with this blog. I have occasionally thought about making a Facebook page that people could like, but I don't want to treat it as something that has to be promoted. I want to be able to post about real life sometimes without feeling like I have to perform, but I am not sure I want a whole new blog for that. Maybe I should just be a guest blogger somewhere else when I need a new outlet, but that might mean I would have to edit and revise what I write, heaven forbid. In general, I think the current model of posting whatever I want is working fine.
• I find I'm gradually changing what I post, not just here but with social media in general. These days I record my life using my blog, my Facebook, my Instagram, my journal, and my letters to my missionary brother. It feels silly to record my life in so many ways in the evenings instead of reading about new things, so I've tried to streamline how I use these media. No more Facebook albums, as much as I loved them. Most of the cute things my kids say will go into my journal now that Joseph has gotten more easily embarrassed by attention. No baby journal for Jacob since his life is plenty documented with Instagram and my journal. When I get to be 75 and decide it's time to compile a life history, it will be a monumental task and I don't need to make it any harder than it already is.
• And finally . . . since this is the 500th post, I thought this blog deserved a slight update. Not a layout update (if it really makes your eyes twitch, you are more than welcome to redesign my blog), but an update of my lists. If you are ever bored and don't have the E. B. White essays on hand to read, you can read a few of my favorite blog posts listed on the left side of the blog under the blog archive. Most of these are posts I put a little more effort into, including posts with funny stories. Of course the best blog posts are overloaded with baby pictures, but those didn't make it on this list of prose posts. They're not E. B. White level, but not much is!

And of course, thanks for reading my blog! Looking forward to the next 500 posts!