A to Z ~ Some thoughts and misgivings

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A-Z? Will I do it this year or won't I? Here's some of my not so positive musings, still comparing with 2025.

First of all the challenge itself. I think it has changed over the years from a simple "can you do this blogging marathon?" to something else.

 The stress on visits and numbers
There's too much stress on the SoMe part of it, too much self-promotion, too much "how many comments", "how many followers" and so on. 

  The non-participants
Last year too little was done to exclude the non-participants, and those having a "registederd users only" comment form.  I hope this will be better in 2026.

  The over-achievers
Some people plan almost a year in advance - this is not really the problem itself. But it sets the bar so high, that many give up participating because they of course cannot do as well on a day-to-day basis. Many also stop because of the pressure to visit and comment on others' blogs, which can be quite time consuming (and more so because of the non-participants).

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I felt some misgivings when I looked at the list I made after visiting all the Theme reveal posts.
I visited all the blogs, read, or at least skimmed through the theme reveal post, and marked them either Green for interesting, Yellow for maybe interesting (or interesting with bad graphics), or Red for not interesting at all. 

I had by the end date for the theme reveal read and marked a total of 65 blogs:
  6 in Green   only!
31 in Yellow  of these just 3 because of bad graphics
27 in Red of these 4 with no theme reveal posts before April 4. 
        (This only makes 64 - one was a double entry.)

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But my weightiest complaint concerns the content of the blogs.

  The not-for-fun-any-more in Blogland.
I find that in all this planning and socializing and promoting and fighting for ... the fun and camaraderie has dissipated. I do not really know how to say this without sounding like an old, grumpy person. The world is a tough enough place, unhappy, dirty, abused - you name it - and for this reason I think we should make challenges like this a place for smiles, flowers, puns, fun and positive vibes ... A place where everybody can say what they like as long as they do it in a civilized way and are not mean to anyone. I find too many of the blogs to be militantly pro-something, or bland or having an edgy undercurrent, or even all three - and this makes me apprehensive and disinclined to continue - or at least to sign up.

   Militant
  Many participants write in their header something like My blog is a place for mystery and creativity, fairy dust and bright woods; while reading on I find them militantly fighting for some -ism or alternative world view.

  Bland
The blandness ... It's a serious kind of blandness, a smoothness of expressions, like a mask or a facade of some kind.  I think a part of it at least comes from the self-censorship caused by the ubiquitous readiness to take offence. This blandness, smoothness, edge-lessness ... I don't know how to say this properly  (I never read any of the participants with adult contents, so that's definitively not what I'm lacking ;) ) bothers me and leeches the joy.

  Or aggressive
Aggressivity might be the key to my second complaint. People are aggressively healthy, pro-pets ... pro-something.
There's no harm in having a topic, but the lashing and kicking out, or the more subtle condescending tones pointed at everyone, or the passive-aggressively always reminding the reader of [Whatever the author is fighting for or part of].

Passive-aggressive might be the description, I'm looking for. It hurts me. I am curious, I like to read what people say and tell. More so when they tell me something new, or write of circumstances, places, cultures and so on I do not know much of - and also when I do not agree, but I do not like being told explicitly what to think, always to be reminded of the wrongs done to this group.
Show it, don't tell it. Blast it! ... and not interspersed with wagging fingers.

  To sum up
For me challenges like the A-Z Challenge thrive on fun, good natured banter, and the telling of tales with no hidden agenda.

Will I sign up? I still do not know. I find the challenge in itself fun, but the social media hype and the millitant challengers not so much, there's plain too many in it to promote something, be it themselves or some -ism, and too few in it just for fun.

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