What House has taught me about Blogging

in Blogging|Life|Me with 6 Comments written by

Some call it a TV show, I call it blog material. I don’t know if you are like me, but one of my favorite shows on television is the show House. Not only is there mystery inside of the show you also are taking part in a story that runs deep between each character. Monday’s episode (3/8//10) took on a whole new way of looking at the show.

The doctors where presented with a typical case, well at least it was typical for the show. For an hour they tried to figure out what was wrong with this lady. That was not what interest me, what interest me about this episode was the patient. She was a “well known blogger” at least that was how they described her, who seemed to be dying of cancer. Throughout the show tension was rising between her and her boyfriend on how much she blogged about her life. Like most bloggers she held nothing back (well except for one thing which actually was the reason for her problems, watch the episode to find out what I am talking about) and this bothered her boyfriend (or maybe husband). This tension was spreading to the doctors as well as they dealt with identity issues and this idea of community. The question that was continued to be asked was how much can we learn from someone based off their blog?

HouseHouse (Greg House, the main character) was also dealing with this issue and trying to learn more about someone, his biological father. He decided to partake in this way of learning about others and started to read a collection of sermons written by his father to learn more about who he was. Interesting enough the question was brought up to house, “why don’t you just call your dad?” Which seems to be the logical answer to this. But House seemed to be more interested in studying his dad then connecting with him.

I would encourage you to watch the whole episode. It had a lot of thought provoking situations. You can watch it here

There was one situation that stuck out to me as I watched the show. It was a dialogue between the doctors as they tried to figure out what was wrong with this lady.

Check out this clip from the show:

The point at the end was very interesting. I think it brings up a couple of questions:

1) Is privacy a modern invention?
AND
2) Can community and connection come when we take off our mask and reveal who we truly are?

*kyle

About Kyle Reed: Kyle Reed is a connector looking to connect with others. A 20 Something that is blogging his way through life and looking to connect through community. Also a team member of the 8BIT Network and brand evangelist. Find me on twitter: @kylelreed, lets chat.

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  • http://rebeccannb.wordpress.com/ Becky

    Good post and great questions… something for me to think about today!

  • http://denisefath.com/ Denise Fath

    I find especially in the blogosphere you can say plenty but still not reveal anything about yourself.

    Just like you can be friends with someone but not really let them in, you can always hide the most important things online.

    So yes, community and connection can develop – but how many of us will ever fully take off our masks for more than just a few people? I'm kind of doubtful anyone really takes off their true mask when blogging. But that's ok -there's still plenty to learn and plenty of wonderful people to meet even if with our semi-revealed faces!

  • http://godlysheep.com Brett Barner

    I don't watch House, and I don't have a reason why not. But I'll have to check out this episode.

  • http://www.randrambles.com Rand

    I just got 1st season of House on DVD yesterday for $16 at Target. Very cool show!

  • http://gbrenna.com/ Graham

    I saw this episode and am also a fan of the show. I think there is a line that every blogger has to draw for him/herself. How personal should I get on my blog. I used to post everything about myself on my blog. I'd post vacation trip itineraries… personal photos of friends and family… and so on. But I made a decision recently to re-draw that line. I'm not going to be talking about my personal life as much on my blog. I'm focusing on things that pertain to my position as a “Church Media Director”. Focusing on communication and all that. I realize that there are about a bajillion blogs out there that focus on this very same topic. But of course my blog is my spin on it all.

    I follow blogs like http://ragamuffinsoul.com and am encouraged by them. Los posts a lot of personal stuff about his family, videos of his children and so on. I enjoy watching them… I do. But I'm pretty sure I'd get in trouble if I ever posted videos of my future children. My girlfriend has told me that we'd have problems if I started writing blog posts about our relationship. So I don't. I have to respect that. As much as I'd like to sometimes… I totally get it.

    We've got to draw the line somewhere.

    Great post Kyle!

    • http://thoughtsaboutnothing.com @kylelreed

      Your right there is a line for everyone and everyone also gives a spin about what they are talking about etc….

      It was interesting in that episode to see the conflict between the girl and the guy and how much she blogged about their relationship. That would be tough.