I’ve been doing a lot of introverted-style thinking about this blog and the blogging community at large, social responsibility and blogging responsibility. I think we all know that I tend to approach blogging and the internet community at large rather naively. This is not a big surprise. I tend to credit people with decency that maybe they don’t always deserve. However, I still continue to think the best of people. See? Naive.
This is why when I discover a blog that spews forth nothing but hate, derision and judgement, I am stunned. Floored. Agast. I found out about just such a blog yesterday. And I think I knew about this blog before, had heard several people mention it, but never looked any further into it. I don’t think I really wanted to know. But yesterday, just such a blog said some very hurtful things about a friend of mine and even now I am still reeling.
I don’t understand where this mentality comes from. I don’t get the need to call someone out who operates some other way than yourself and point and laugh, encouraging others to point and laugh with you. It’s that whole “bully” thing we used to see in junior high. I didn’t get it then, either. How does that make you feel better, as a person, to pick on people like that? How does that improve your life? How does that improve the community, at large?
There’s the standard response line of “if you put it out there on the internet, it’s fair game”. That’s a load of bull and it’s a poor excuse. Simply because someone posts something on the internet, why does that mean then that people have to disparage it? What would happen, say, if people just left it alone? Ignored it, if it bothered them? Went on with their merry lives and focused their energies on a more positive endeavor? Would the world stop spinning on it’s axis? Would the moon crack open and fall into the sun? WOULD LIFE AS WE KNOW IT CEASE TO EXIST? Hardly.
Another response I hear is “it’s in the interest of truth and exposing hypocrisy!” Really? Who CARES? This particular site likes to go after The Pioneer Woman and Dooce fairly regularly and insists that while they don’t dislike PW, they need to expose that this idyllic life she puts forth isn’t exactly the truth. Again I’ll say: WHO CARES? I love to read PW’s sites. I like her photos, her recipes and her stories. So what if she’s not telling the whole unvarnished story? So what if she’s richer than God because of her successful family/site/what the heck ever? How does that impact me? Unless I were to win one of her fantastic giveaways, I don’t think it impacts me at all. And then, it would only impact me positively. So why would I want to rag on her or her site? I wouldn’t. That’s the point.
Same thing with Dooce. I don’t ever hold any dillusions of being BFFs with Heather, with her ever knowing me from a hole in the ground, even. But yes, I do read her site and enjoy her photographs. I don’t buy into the whole “she’s exploiting her child” and “her husband is an automaton” and “she is a drama queen!” thing. Why? Because I don’t really CARE. It doesn’t affect me. I wish the best for her, of course, and am interested in what goes on with her but beyond that, what difference does it make?
It makes me wonder if I shouldn’t rethink my own site. Remove names, photos, details, etc. That would be one step before not blogging altogether. And in light of what I posted a few days ago, I am loathe to let that happen. I may not have a lot of traffic or draw a huge crowd of readers, even enough to warrant a hate-filled site to target me, but I love my blog and I love blogging. It brings me peace and joy and community and most of all, a place to put my feelings. If I didn’t have it anymore, I would miss it terribly. And I wonder if I could have it if I started worrying about censoring myself more than I already do (yep! I do censor myself, believe it or not!).
I don’t know if I really have a point to this entry (and how is this different from any other entry?), but I want to put out there a little, “Can’t we all just get along?” and some “Try a little tenderness”. With the world going to pot the way it is, we could use a little more positivity and a lot less negativity, don’t you think?
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4 Responses to “Truth and Consequences”
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I love to get along! Let’s all get along! Making new friends is the best and keeping them is even better.
P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! We’ve had major ice storm drama up here in the NorEast which downed power and *gasp* internet connectivity!!! So I’m late with it, but I was thinking of you
Yes, we should just get along. And some people need to be reminded of it. People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. So I always wonder why people feel they have the right to point fingers at other people. I’m sure the finger pointers do things (think things, say things, wear ugly clothes, use bad grammar… whatever) themselves on occassion. So why they feel justfied being a finger pointer in the first place…? Not that I don’t enjoy playing fashion police as much as the next guy. But I also know that the What Not to Wear people would throw out half my clothes. But yes, getting along, esspecially this time of year, is very important and I wish more people understood that.
We get a lot of this in the scrap booking community too. It seems to be a low self esteem problem & they think they feel better about themselves by tearing others down. I don’t see how people can write or think some of the things they do and not feel horrible later at the pain they cause.
Staceys last blog post..Weekly Winners
I think your point is …who cares? and also who spends so much time griping about others? Dooce has problems, you have problems I have problems. We are under no obligation to disclose those problems to the world. We can choose what we want to say on our blogs and we do. It is our form of outlet or expression just like hate blogs ( is there another word for them? really?) are free to express themselves. I for one don’t frequent them because the world is in enough trouble without all the pot stirrers. I prefer to focus on the good times. There are enough bad times to go around. I prefer to focus on my friends and their happiness, and if every once in a while I get a little bitter that I can’t knit and you can…I’ll most likely keep it to myself. *wink*