Isn't it ironic that one motivating reason to start a blog is to spill your thoughts, anonymously, to the world to seek comfort; and now, for this reason, the best among us cannot do this? It's almost like they need blogs for their blogs... i.e. a place to go to escape the woes in blog-land.
Is it irony or is it a natural consequence? Are people in general so driven to be disruptive, hurtful, or inconsiderate that it's inevitable that when something of this personal nature gets enough participants, it cracks and falls apart? I know each case is different and complex, but I'm just generalizing here.
It seems like an interesting paradox: you need blog readers to motivate you to make the effort to post, but too many readers and the probability of negative comments, etc. increases.
I haven't experienced this, because my blog is boring and meaningless (a simulacrum of my life, if you will!). But AJ, Mirrorboy, and Jake-- our fearless blog-world pioneers-- have all retreated from blog-world due to drama in blog-world. I feel terrible that something that is supposed to be an outlet for the shit of our lives has jammed up, and is now overflowing the metaphorical feces back in their faces.
On a selfish note, I miss them all immensely. Its been almost 3/4 of a year that I have been hearing about their lives as a nice part of my day. It certainly made me feel less lonely; and it's good to know that we all have challenges we face.
I don't know the answer to this problem.
Much Love,
Steve
Happy Thanksgiving!
1 year ago
5 comments:
It is an funny irony indeed. People should blog what they feel. If they feel that what they blog will cause an uproar with their readers, well, disable comments. =D
I bluntly posted this on my blog a while ago:
"I don't care about my readers feelings, I will do what I do because I like to do. But if you are reading this, I love you."
XD
Following up on what x! said, it seems to me that posting without disabling comments is an invitation to comment. Many bloggers actually ask (plead with?) people to comment. As you say, Steve, that makes it pretty much inevitable that there will be disagreements, which may be more or less gently expressed depending on the character, ability, and mood of the commenter, and may be more or less well received depending on the same factors on the part of the blogger. But it would be a pretty sorry state of affairs if nobody dared to express an opinion different from the original blogger's. You and I had some pretty good exchanges, as I recall.
If I think something is important, I'll try to express it clearly and strongly enough that it will have a chance of persuading other people, not to hurt their feelings, but to get through to them. I hope that they would feel free to let me know if they think I have crossed the line from discussion to personal attack.
All that said, I got the impression that Mirrorboy and Jake didn't leave because of what was said on their blogs but because of things happening in their own lives. What I saw on their blogs was cryptic, apart from Jake's announcement that he had broken up with M-boy (which he must have done somewhere else, since it didn't happen on either of their blogs.
With AJ it seems that people's comments were the reason he withdrew, and that is unfortunate. I'm particularly sorry if what I said to samadidris was part of it. I thought I was correcting what samadidris said, by giving my understanding of the facts. Of course I was hoping AJ would be persuaded to let us help him out, and driving him away was never my intention or expectation.
What to do? Bloggers, be prepared to have commenters tell you if they disagree with what you say or do. Commenters, try to express your disagreements as gently as you can. Bloggers, consider disabling comments and deleting comments as an alternative to walking away entirely.
I agree with you 100% "I feel terrible that something that is supposed to be an outlet for the shit of our lives has jammed up, and is now overflowing the metaphorical feces back in their faces." I did a post on this very topic the other day lol. Im glad there are others who share the same view! Although... I think you expressed it a lot better than I did :S lol
Take Care
B xo
Jake will return sometime soon, he just posted.M-boy left a lengthy comment on the "Fuck up" post. You oughtta read it...for the rest I´m pretty much d´accord. Even my situation is a comfy one, I see, that many bloggers prbly. have not the social live they wish to have. I too generalize here, but give it a thought. Propz Pilgrim
it sucks that the shit of our lives follows us here, but like x! has said, disable the comments. or simply delete the offending comments, or turn on comment moderation. it's crap that some people feel the need to be so disrespectful and leave hurtful, nasty comments. i mean, if its that bad, don't read my fckn blog! as pilgrim said, if i had more of a social life, i wouldn't be here. but, i choose to make friends and try to have a good time AND vent some of the more serious shit going on in my life that i can't talk about to most of the people i know in real life. others, apparently, make the reasons that they have no social life obvious to everyone who reads one of their hateful, cruel, ignorant, and just plain stupid (and often anonymous) comments. but, with human relationships (in person or online) comes drama. it's inevitable. anywho, i do miss our convos on msn...i can only blame myself coz i haven't been on much, and when i am it's pretty late for you. laterz!
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