New Blog: DearMeBlog.com
February 11, 2008
Today, I AIM interviewed the creator of Dear Me, a new blog that asks its readers to contribute the content. And the content? A letter written by a sane individual to his/her future insane self. Check out this interview and then head on over to Dear Me with your own contribution. You know you’ve got something to say to yourself!
G23: Well hello Dear Me!
Dear Me: Hi Jeff!
G23: I have to say, your blog is fantastic — getting people to split their personalities and talk to themselves as if time didn’t exist. I see a lot of my work in your blog.
DM: Thanks! It’s amazing how the blog has been resonating with so many people. Everyone has a different story, but there’s a lot of similarities between them all.
G23: Yeah, and one major thread seems to be Alcohol!
DM: Exactly. If we didn’t know it already, people make bad decisions when they drink — not that it’s going to stop us anytime soon.
G23: I bet you could get some advertising money from AA or something.
DM: Or maybe advertising dollars from phone companies. Our readers/writers do a lot of drunk texting and dialing.
G23: Haha, yes they do. So why don’t you tell the readers a little bit about how you came up with the idea for Dear Me blog.
DM: A friend of mine was really hung up on this guy who didn’t treat her well, and then one day she sort of came out of this fog and realized why she shouldn’t like him and I was thrilled. Then a week later she was back to forgetting what was wrong with him. So the next time she came to her senses, I suggested she write a letter to her future self who would probably forget all the shitty things he did to her. She wrote the letter and it really helped her. She would read it over and over again anytime she felt herself starting to fall for the guy again.
Then when I ended a relationship, I wrote a letter to myself reminding me why I did it and it really helped me too. Then other people got into it, and a blog seemed like the perfect forum for people to get together and share. Sort of like virtual group therapy.
Plus it’s always funny to read about other people doing stupid things.
G23: When you receive E-mails from readers, how much of what I read on the blog is in the original letter? Is there much editing?
DM: So far there’s actually been absolutely no editing. It’s really meant as a place for people to share, and I don’t want to change people’s voices. The only editing is if someone uses a real name. We change the real name to a fake name because it’s not meant to be a place to get revenge. We don’t want people writing a horror story about Girl X so that if someone googles her they see what a nutcase she was.
But what’s interesting is when the blog started I thought most letters would be about specific people, but it turns out a lot of them are about the writer’s behavior in general. I think it’s been a good mix of specific break up stories and bad behavior patterns and, again, all fueled by liquor.
G23: Sounds like something straight out of The Real World!
DM: So true. Art imitating life or vice versa? Um…if you want to call The Real World art — which I do.
G23: Have you received any letters where you thought it might be a bit more serious and that you might reply back with some concern? I don’t know, maybe someone is being abused — a cry for help?
DM: Actually that’s something I’m worried about handling. Right now all the self-destructive behavior is sort of amusing problems that a lot of people have. No one’s written in yet with a serious issue, but if they did I think that’s something I would want to handle off-site. Although I bet if Dr. Phil read the website he’d think we’re all in need of some actual therapy.
G23: So tell me more about this idea of a ‘movement’. You state in the “About” section of Dear Me that you’re all starting a “movement to have people capitalize on that momentary glimmer of sanity”.
DM: Everyone has friends who give them advice, that’s the norm. But the advice of friends can also only take you so far because half the time you’re not really going to take it. The person you’re most likely to listen to is yourself, which in a Dear Abby world is sort of a new concept.
G23: I love that idea. Have you seen my art? I only talk to myself!
DM: Yes, I love your art! It’s all about self-reflection, just like Dear Me, but it’s also about sharing that self-reflection with the world.
G23: Have you written an anonymous letter that is in the mix yet?
DM: Hmmm, I think we’ll let the mystery remain on that question.
G23: Okay, so let me throw you a curve ball. I’m young, you’re young, we’re all growing up… Do you think that writing a letter to yourself to remind you of who you are on your best behavior is preventing you from growing? Your friend with the shitty relationship, she wouldn’t have learned anything if she was never in that shitty relationship in the first place. Do you think these letters are going to make people stop in their tracks…and not go out and live life?
DM: Not at all. To write the letter in the first place you have to have made a mistake. But what’s interesting about relationships is that people make the same mistake over and over again. A person only needs to touch a hot oven once to learn not to do that. But people will go back to the same person over and over again expecting different results. There’s sort of a redundancy in that, and maybe they’re stopping themselves from growing by not moving on and making a whole different mistake.
Besides, even if we listen to ourselves more than someone else, we’re still never going to always do what’s “good” for us. You’re still going to take that 9th shot of vodka and drunk text that person you hooked up with over the summer. But if the letter helps you not take the 10th and drunk dial your ex from 3 years ago, then it’s a positive step.
G23: Haha, I have an idea to make the anti-Dear Me blog now, where the F’d up you writes back in response. I’m sure there would be a lot of grammatical editing.
DM: That would be hysterical! I can totally imagine some of our writers making drunk comments on Dear Me at 3 am… “Screw you, Sober Me! You think you’re so smart?!?” But hey, that’s better than Facebook poking your coworker at 3 am.
G23: So where would you like to see Dear Me go in the future? It’s only been about two weeks since the launch, but you’ve already mentioned certain things repeating themselves — alcohol and phone calls. What do you think is in store for Dear Me? If you could write a letter to future-Dear Me, what would it be?
DM: When I started Dear Me I didn’t even know if anyone other than my circle of friends would even see it, but in less than two weeks we’ve gotten people from other countries reading and commenting! I think it’s already becoming its own creature, and I’m just holding on for the ride.
I would love to have to write a letter like, “Dear Dear Me, Remember that time that Britney Spears submitted a letter and you posted it anonymously anyway? That was really big of you. Keep up the good work. Love, DM”.
G23: Haha, that’s great! Well keep up the good work, Dear Me. I F’ing love the site, it’s hilarious.
DM: Thanks! I’m so glad you’re enjoying it. If any G23 readers out there want to submit a letter, we’d love to post them!
Links Cited:
Dear Me.
