5 day forecast
Popular 'PittGirl' blogs with attitude
Share with others:
She's known as "PittGirl," and her cheeky, articulate blog -- The Burgh Blog (TheBurghBlog.com) -- has become a must-read for Pittsburgh's chattering classes (or some of them, anyway). Determinedly anonymous, PittGirl nonetheless answered our questions about one woman's journey into the Pittsburgh blogosphere:
Q: What led you to create The Burgh Blog?
A: I am a voracious reader of the news, and with most of my friends and family living outside the 'Burgh, I never really had anyone to talk to about things that just astounded me or interested me as they related to the city. I just wanted an outlet for my thoughts.
Q: How has blogging changed your life?
A: It really hasn't, and that's why I stay anonymous. I still read everything I ever read. I still think everything I ever thought. I have the same friends I ever did, who have no idea that I have a blog.
Q: Could you describe yourself politically? Most of the women bloggers I talked to seem to be left-leaning. I'm not getting that from you so much.
A: My father, God bless him, would love for me to say, "I walk in the voting booth, find the Republican lever and pull it down with all my might. Twice. Every time."
But, in reality, honestly, I don't put a label on myself politically because I tend to look at politics issue by issue, put the facts in my head, let them sit there for a while, and then decide where I stand. This means that sometimes I might agree with a Republican and sometimes I might agree with a Democrat. This is also why you can't really gauge my political bent just from reading my blog.
Q: Do you "brand" yourself as a "woman blogger" or just a blogger who happens to be female?
A: Oh, boy. I am absolutely a blogger who just happens to be female. I'm not out there trying to say, "I am woman! Hear me roar about how this woman feels about this issue!" I'm just me.
Q: Some say you're successful because you project yourself almost as "the cool, funny girl in school whom everyone wants to hang out with." What do you think of that assessment? Are you, in real life, anywhere close to that description?
A: In high school, I wasn't the cool, funny chick but was rather the cool, quiet chick that kept closely to her group of friends. I didn't "blossom," so to speak, until college, when I really came out of my shell and found my self-confidence.
Q: Do you have any sense of who your readership is and what they like about your blog? Is it growing?
A: My readership doesn't seem to fit any one demographic. I've got old-timers, politicians, media folks, college students, high school students, young professionals, etc., all reading my blog. About 30 percent of my regular readers no longer live in the city but live as far away as Australia and England. Readership is generally on a gradual constant uptick.
I think what people like about my blog is that I don't take things too seriously, unless they absolutely must be taken seriously.
It's a lighter look at the city. And don't let anyone try to tell you I don't love Pittsburgh, because I absolutely adore every single thing about this city. As I say on my page, "I love Pittsburgh. If I could pick it up, wrap my arms around it, kiss it on the forehead and tell it I love it for all its faults, I so would."
-- Mackenzie Carpenter
First Published October 31, 2007 12:00 am
