Peer Pressure


Peer pressure is a strange thing. Often it’s heard in a negative context but hopefully this time around it will be positive. I’ve tried my hand at blogging in the past and it’s come in fits and starts, usually ending because I got bored with it. I wasn’t getting any feedback, but I also wasn’t really attempting to reach any particular audience. I’ve been asked to blog in the past by a few people but until tonight I’d always brushed those requests off because I didn’t think I really had anything worth reading.

At the insistence of Stephanie DeLuca, a recent Lehigh University graduate I was “pressured” into participating in the “90 in 90” challenge. I was also informed by Ashley Sciora, another Lehigh alumna and challenge participant that “feelings of inadequacy are not acceptable reasons for refusing the 90 in 90.” The idea is to write every day for ninety days (or longer). I’m not sure what will come of this, but I’m sure it will be an interesting experiment. Being the tech guy that I am I couldn’t use a wordpress.com prebuilt site, I had to host it on my own domain. Intent with learning more about how the software worked I spent far too long installing it and twiddling the knobs until it dawned on me that the purpose of setting this up was to create content, not futz with settings all night.

When I was trying to get out of the challenge I commented to Stephanie that peer pressure almost always has the exact opposite effect on me, usually because when I’m being pressured it’s to get me to do something I not only don’t want to do, but I also perceive as being wrong, against my values, or worse. I guess the reason this time I had the opposite of my normal reaction was that I not only trusted the source of the pressure, but that I really can’t see anything but growth coming from this experience. Let’s see what develops…


8 responses to “Peer Pressure”

  1. Welcome – the 90 / 90 things sounds like a chore but it may just be what I need to get back in the game. Since I have multiple outlets I should be able to handle this.

    I think you have a lot to say and to offer – I am looking forward to reading what comes spilling out.

  2. The fun thing about hosted WordPress is you can tinker as you go. I probably do something small with my site once every few weeks. But you’re right, it’s about content.

    100 words a day is the challenge I give people. Which really isn’t that hard, when you think about it. It’s 3-4 tweets.

  3. I am going to start the 90/90 tonight. At least 100 words a day should be a piece of cake for someone like me. Thanks Todd for inspiring me.

  4. Being married to a tech guy, I was amused at what you said about fiddling around with the program. haha Just write. It’s not about who reads it, really. It’s about the writing. And with that, I’m off to do something so I can update my own blog.

  5. […] looking into updating an old badge I’d made and possibly cooking up a few new widgets. See? I told you I was all about twiddling the knobs… This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged 90in90. Bookmark the permalink. Tweet […]

  6. Todd- Your site and the typography are lovely. That said, I wish you a wonderful experience in your quest. Write for you first … and everyone will benefit.

    • Thanks Donna. I can’t claim credit for the layout, it’s just a tweak of the default theme. 😉