In which I return to my roots

No, this is not a post about having the roots of my hair touched up so as to cover up the grey. Although I did go to the hairdresser last week, and I must admit that it really cheered me up.

In this post I return to my commentbox roots.

I was first attracted to blogs because of those lovely little boxes at the end of each post. This past week I had occasion to disagree with a style blogger and I was about to move on without writing a comment because I feared the consequences of disagreeing with her.

I'm not talking about her tracking me down and, you know, beating me up, just that merely disagreeing with a blogger these days can often result in other readers' somewhat aggressive comments. I should point out here that this has never actually happened to me, but I've seen it happen to others, and I'm sensitive. In short - I have been worrying for two days now about the comment I left on this stylist's blog, even though it was very polite, not at all personal and received only a polite (although somewhat icy, remember I'm sensitive, overly so, always have been) response.

Have you ever had that niggling suspicion that disagreeing with a blogger in her commentbox is being mean? Do you think it's better not to write a comment at all in that case? AND - if so - does that explain the general trend in the Australian mummy and beauty blog spheres to adore each other to such an extent that everything becomes a love-fest of mutual admiration rather than an interesting potpourri of difference and genuine interest in the other point of view?

I have written very few commentboxes in my blog-life which made me cringe at a later date and wonder at my motivation. But lately I've been feeling cranky with the world, and I can feel it rubbing off on my commentbox persona. I think the problem may have started because I'm following many style blogs solely for research purposes, and these style bloggers have slowly become a part of my own style world, often to my own dismay. I'm following nailpolish addicts' blogs even as I inwardly sneer at their hobby (nobody, but nobody, is as obsessive as a nailpolish blogger). I'm following Australian style bloggers whose personal style actually makes my skin crawl, and yet there I am, day in, day out, apparently addicted to their regular posts even though they remind me how much ugly fashion there is in the world.

Do commentboxes take on a different meaning now that so many Australian style blogs are monetised ? Certainly if a personal blogger takes photos of herself in different outfits I would never ever write a remotely negative comment. But what if that blog is the blogger's business? And what if that outfit she's wearing, and the entire post, is in fact an advertisement (albeit honest) for a specific brand of clothing? So what is the etiquette in this case? Is it OK for the blog's readers to post only positive comments out of politeness?

I'm not certain. But I'm too scared to find out. I'm sensitive you know.

E x