First, the disclaimer: I mean absolutely no offense to anyone who runs a photo blog. Some of my friends have photo blogs that are adjuncts to their regular blogs, and that's fine. These are simply my observations and opinions, and I welcome yours, as I'm curious about what others think.
Is it my imagination, or is it true that practically every time I log on, there's a new spanking-oriented photo site in the blogrolls? Pictures, pictures, pictures. No words. No stories. Oftentimes, not even a reference as to the origins of the photos. Just photos, one after another after another, every day, all over the place.
Can these really be considered a blog? Isn't a blog a web journal? Doesn't that imply that writing and creative expression is involved? Where is the creativity in copying and pasting pictures?
Please don't misunderstand me -- I love pictures. I post plenty of my own. But they are always accompanied with writing, a background, a setup. They have a story. They are not there just for the sake of being there.
Granted, I am female, and according to the gender cliches, we are not as visual as males are. But really, how many pictures can you look at before it all becomes redundant? One trend I notice is that the same pictures make the rounds of many of the photo blogs. Click on one blog, there it is. Click on another, there it is again. Posted and reposted. And reposted again.
You don't even get to read interesting comments on these photo blogs. All you see are lists of people who liked them or reposted them.
Again, where is the creativity? I am old school, I guess. I like the written word. I like to read someone's thoughts and feelings.
Also, in some of the so-called spanking photo blogs, the photos have nothing to do with spanking. They are simply cute young girls with their butt to the camera. That's not spanking. And this is my own personal distaste, but I'm really, really getting tired of seeing the straight-on, spread-open kitty and back door shots. Jeeezus.... if I click on a blog looking for a spanking picture, I don't want some woman's hoo-ha in my face, so close up I feel like a damn gynecologist. Sure, there are glimpses of private bits in spanking pictures. But I'm talking blatant display here.
Even though there are thousands, perhaps millions of pictures out there, you're going to get repeats when so many people are posting them. Am I the only one who finds this boring?
Granted, not all the photo blogs are created equal. Some are more varied, some have a particular theme, etc. I didn't want to name names in this post, but I'd like to call attention to one photo blog I find exceptional -- At a Kinky House. Not just a spanking photo blog, but an exploration of kinky romance with gorgeous pictures.
What are your thoughts? Photo blogs, yea or nay? What do you like about them? What do you dislike? If I could make only two suggestions to the photo bloggers, I'd choose these: 1) credit the photos whenever possible, and 2) find some variety, please. Don't just copy and paste something that's already been on a dozen other blogs.
Again, I mean no offense, and I am not anti-photos. I just don't want to see the death of writing; it's already being tortured by text-speak and crappy grammar.
I prefer to see blogs with a story or narrative or real life experience spiced up with photos. Just photos does not interest me personally, but I do not have any objection to them.
ReplyDeleteThis is a good post full of valid points. I do think that photo blogs have a place, but they don't take the place of good writing like you put up here. It's all too easy to put up a picture when you don't have anything to say, and I'm often guilty of that.
ReplyDeletejoey -- I don't object to them either, honest. Just the redundancy. It would be like if the writers all posted on exactly the same topic. Wouldn't that be tiresome?
ReplyDeleteSpanky -- they do have their place, certainly. I wouldn't want to eliminate them. Just scale them down a bit, maybe.
Who says that photo blogs are taking the place of text-oriented blogs?
ReplyDeleteI keep mine as an archive of photos I will use on my text blog. It's just a handy way to organize them. And if other people like to look, that's great too. But it would never take the place of my regular blog.
Plus, those photo blogs (some of them) inspire me to write. So it's not a question of either/or.
XX
Pink -- yours is one of those I mentioned that's an adjunct, which I have no problem with at all, since it doesn't replace your written blog. My issue is so, SO many photo-only blogs popping up on a regular basis. Is this the trend of the blogosphere's future?
ReplyDeleteYou are such a prude.
ReplyDeleteMargie -- well, I did ask for opinions, and you certainly gave me one. Trust me, though... I am not. :-)
ReplyDeleteHi Erica,
ReplyDeleteNo, you're not the only one. I link a lot of spanking photoblogs and I appreciate those who have mastered the medium. But there is a lot of uninspired mediocrity.
My chief gripe with spanking photoblogs is that most NEVER post anything original. It's the same 1000 pictures that get posted and reposted again. Even if they were beautiful the first time, that was a long time ago.
Is it too much for a blogger to provide a clever or funny or inspiring or thought-provoking caption or comment? I hope not.
Hugs,
Bonnie
To be honest, the quality of a blog depends on its content, whatever form it may take. There are boring photo blogs, as there are tiresome "normal" ones, be it because of the ungrammatical writing or other reasons.
ReplyDeleteThat said, images blatantly depicting genitalia and leaving very little to the imagination aren't exactly my thing either. I love the artistic ones that are so aesthetically beautiful, they make me take a moment to admire them, but that's about it.
Much like you, I prefer a blog to be a journal where one shares his/her thoughts. Photos are always welcome, as sometimes a picture is more telling than a hundred words, but it only captures a moment. A description is often necessary to act as some sort of frame, in my opinion, because it makes you understand better what you're looking at.
I may be insane, but for me, reading is like seeing the writer's thoughts flowing in front of my eyes, almost dancing, and stimulating my mind's musing. (Of course, how much beautifully artistic it feels depends on how it's written.) Sadly, I can't really say that for pictures. Does that make me a walking cliché? :-P
Meh, not a fan myself. I pretty much wholeheartedly agree with your bitch rant (hey! That's what it is! ;) ) I have used pics in my blog, always accompanied by writing, 90% of the time my own personal pics, and like you, a story behind them. They are an illustration of the text, not the whole of the posts on the blog.
ReplyDeleteOften I don't use pics, because I feel sometimes pics can distract from what is being written.
But then again, I write the kind of blog that I also like to read. Personal. Varied. Spanking. Non-spanking. Rants. Muses. Jokes.
So, my opinion pretty much matches yours.
sarah
I don't like photos that show genitalia. That to me is getting into the porn category. May be light porn, but I still don't like it. I do like photos that have captions, that have a story, and leave something to the imagination. A good photo will tell a story in itself. I don't go to many photo blogs and the ones I do go to, usually have some kind of caption, hint of spankings, or feature them.
ReplyDeleteI posted a comment earlier that disappeared into a black hole. :)
ReplyDeleteI prefer comments to accompany pics. I appreciate wit, sass and cute remarks. And I hate genital pics of either sex. I also hate when people copy website pics from well known producers and try to pass them off as their own.
Said it on Twitter now saying it here.
ReplyDeleteI find it amusing she called you a prude. Did good ole Marge see the last post?
Which was H.O.T.-You drove it like you stole it. I come here for the same reason I imagine you object to the all pic blogs. I'd like a little content with my kink. At the risk of sounding fawning, which I loathe.... I get what your putting out and 9 post out of 10 I can relate.
In my humble hot air opinion, you offer a take no prisoners, BS free zone. Tumbled with a titch of snark and a dash of delightful neuroses.
Haters will hate.
Bonnie -- exactly; that was one of my points as well. Way too much redundancy. And yes, write just a little something with them, for heaven's sake. :-)
ReplyDeleteChristy -- I don't find you to be a walking cliché. :-) You're a word person, as am I. And you're right; the quality of photos varies, just like the quality of the verbiage.
Sarah -- bitch rant??? Hummmph! You think THAT was bitching? ;-)
Bobbie Jo -- I don't have a problem with pornography. Many say spanking videos are a form of porn (which is a whole other debate). But if I go to a spanking photo blog, I want to see spanking pictures. Not people bending over and spreading their cheeks open.
Kelly -- ah yes, one of my favorites. It's a compliment, I think, to repost a picture. It is NOT cool to repost the picture and lead people to believe it's one of your own.
Newt -- that's one of the coolest descriptions of my blog that I've ever read. :-) And hey, if not wanting to look up someone's a#$ makes me a prude, then so be it.
Back in the 90s when I got my first computer I think the second thing I did with it was search for spanking pictures. I like spanking pics, and some are good enough that they can stand on their own without any explanation but most can't. I prefer there be a story or some sort of explaination with them
ReplyDeleteThe overt displays of genitals that we to often see is not something that I look for in spanking pictures Somtimes that type of exposure is relavent to the scene and if it fits than thats ok. But a lot of it is just over the top in my opinion.
The blogs that I tend to keep retuning to are the ones like yours, that are more creative and thought provoking with pictures that are framed with in a story rather that the ones that are just picture blogs
I agree with many of your points. Personally, I prefer to follow blogs that are mostly words rather than pics only. Pictures can be well placed and help tell a story, but I like it mixed in with some sort of writing. As far as the reposters, I think lots of new blogs do pop up but they tend to weed themselves out as do written blogs. Those that are better quality have the staying power.
ReplyDeleteA word man, I need also words, npot mere pictures, to make me smile and think.
ReplyDeleteBoth words and pictures need be both sharp and subtle to generate these effects.
Your two guidelines deserve followers.
Glen -- I do remember hungrily looking at spanking pictures when I first got into this. And I still do like them. Some are incredibly sexy and artistic.
ReplyDeleteI love cat pictures too. But one can look at only so many kitties. ;-)
Lea -- gawd, I hope you're right. :-)
MrJ -- thanks!
Give me a wordsmith blog over a photoblog any day of the week. But for me personally, here's hoping a wordsmith will add a few pics here and there to spice up (and/or break up) a blog loaded with text (like the long spanking story types). People (ahem.. ok.. ME) will get bored (or skim through like a speed reader) when I'm faced with paragraph after paragraph of words and nothing in between to cause me to pause and wince (LOL), or laugh or smile knowingly at the correlation of the pic to the verbiage.
ReplyDeleteI also hate those bent over the knee, or some piece of furniture pics where the Top maneuvers to have the legs spread and the nether region is then exposed to the masses. To me, it's just not classy - it doesn't endear me more to the setting or the story behind it. (one exception for me there, is if the pic is of a couple in a love relationship, and if a story accompanies that pic) I'm such a "prude" (LOL), that I don't even like stark naked "girls" in a pic with a storyline that is a Daddy/lg relationship. That'll squick me out in a nano second.
Zelle -- I can go either way with text-intensive blogs. If I'm finding the text extra compelling, then I don't need it to be broken up with photos. But for the most part, I agree with you; a nice mix of both is ideal.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was writing my book, someone suggested that I put lots of pictures in it. I chose to put NO pictures. Figured people have already seen plenty of me, and if they hadn't, they knew where to go. :-)
I need to add that I don't mind nether region shots in the story context, ex: holding a bent over position post spanking, or culprit bare bottomed and facing the spanker to go across the knee.
ReplyDeleteWhat I'm tired of are FetLife pics where people habitually post pics of nothing but their own hoo hah's or "twig & berries" and the ones where it appears the poser is trying to give him/herself a do-it-yourself rectal exam! :)
I think it's a male/female thing. I'm male. My favorite spanking blog is More Than It Hurts Me (morethanithurtsme.tumblr.com), which is a photoblog as you describe it. But such beautiful pictures!
ReplyDeleteAnd: isn't this phenomenon the *raison d'être* of tumblr in the first place. I can imagine that that kind of blog bores you, but they seem to fill a need.
A very timely post - and some very pertinent critiques, particularly from Bonnie who knows better than most just how many pictures sites there are.
ReplyDeleteSince I started on tumblr the number of picture blogs has multiplied exponentially, especially in the last couple months, and it really is a law of diminishing returns.
Picture sites/blogs (delete according to preference) require a lot of content and as many who post seem to look no further than other tumblrs there is a lot recycling.
I began posting 'home made' photos and accounts of my own consensual domestic spanking adventures around 2001 on msn groups to a very small but appreciative following.
After publishing two books of CP stories with Chimera I ran the Doonstar blogspot with a mixture of 'found' images and my own 'real life photos. The latter were accompanied by original fictional stories but the number of hits although very complimentary was small.
My current blog -cperotica.tumblr.com is solely pictorial. A mixture of my own, magazine scans and 'harvests' (often cropped or exposure compensated in iPhoto) from, as far as possible, non CP parts of the web. It's popular, but time consuming and, dare I admit this? becoming boring.
I've kept a number of the word/picture post from my earlier blog and occasionally think of posting them on tumblr, but previous experiments aren't encouraging. What to do next?
Erica, I agree with you completely. But then, I'm a word person too, although I rely on pictures for my blog more than I ever imagined I would.
ReplyDeleteThere are only a couple of tumblr blogs I like, and they include non-spanking photos. As for genital closeups, no thanks!
Hugs,
Hermione
I totally get what you are saying. Sometimes less is more in terms of photos. Sometimes words are needed, more than just pressing "Reblog" and moving on.
ReplyDeleteI am guilty of being lazy from time to time. I agree with you though and I make sure to follow tumblr accounts that are uniquely different from others (read: they don't copy each other).
Kelly -- exactly. Incidental views of private parts during scenes are one thing. Bending over, pulling your cheeks apart and displaying your sphincter is another.
ReplyDeleteW -- it's not photo blogs that bore me, honestly. It's TOO MANY of them, with the same pictures over and over.
Anonymous -- you raise an extremely good question. What to do when you were one of the originals, but now you're drowning among a gazillion others doing the same thing? I have no answer for that.
I remember you posted a picture of me once, and I commented to thank you for not tagging me as "mature." :-)
Hermione -- ah, but you post pictures like no other! :-)
NV -- we're all lazy sometimes. Some fall back on pictures; I fall back on complaining, as that comes so easily. ;-)
Personally I like to see a picture with a well written real life experience or stories. I use pictures with all my posts but that's me.
ReplyDeleteI have no objection to picture blogs - you don't have to visit them:)
Have a good weekend Erica.
Love,
Ronnie
xx
Ronnie -- pictures accompanying writing are lovely.
ReplyDeleteI feel like perhaps I've annoyed some people with this blog, and I've been misunderstood by some. But I guess that's the risk I take when I post something rant-y and controversial. :-)
Erica, like you I am not very interested in photo blogs. Of course it can be nice to look at beautiful photos, but there are so many of them out there, and if I have the choice to look at pictures in the combination with a written text (be it a behind-the-scenes report of a video shoot, a fitting fictional story or a real-life play account) or without any context, I prefer the former. I am also more interested in looking at pictures which are showing people whom I know, either from their writing or even in real life. I would like to see some more photos that depict men (most photo blogs depict women only), but even then I would prefer to have the pictures presented in an interesting context.
ReplyDeleteKaelah -- it really does make a difference when you know the people in the photos, doesn't it? Makes for a better connection.
ReplyDelete