Some years ago, I read an article written by Kathleen Parker, a syndicated columnist, the article was in the Orlando Sentinel (at that time).
In her article Ms. Parker discussed one of my favorite pastime, Blogging, the people who do it, why they do, and some who even develop the most outrageous of behaviors and write in the most outrageous of manner!
For those of us who do it, blogging has become one of those treasured things we do. It has become a pleasant past time in which we engage in telling about our lives, it’s ups and down, the joys and sadness, venting and letting off steam, and even sharing our hopes and dreams. We talk about our spouses, or our better halves, our children and whatever adventures we experience.
However, there are some people who blog for one reason only. For the glorification's of themselves. They don’t care if they write something claiming it is fact when it is not, or if in doing so, someone gets hurt from what they write. Some people will tell a story so that they can have that high, their five minutes of fame.
The high comes from the amount of readers and comments on their blog. But sometimes this alone is not enough. The ride to blog-stardom involves being Number 1 or being in the top 10 of whatever blogosphere they’re a part of.
Most times they must be the first to report something. While there’s nothing wrong with that, sometimes they don’t give credit where credit is due, so there’s no accountability as to what they do. And there are times, much like in the world of writing and publishing books, there are those who plagiarizes others!
In some blogging communities, there are bloggers who will seek the demise of others. By doing this it will be the key to the gate of blogdom, or so they might think. I think if someone is like this we should definitely worry about it! These are people who will look for anything to pick at and even if it is done in error and not a deliberate act they won’t ever apologize for their actions!
For some, if their fellow bloggers don’t dot all the ‘I’s and cross all the ‘T’s then it’s a coming out party. They get a lot of pleasure in calling out the other person’s mistake and scandalizing them.
While some bloggers may deserve having this done to them, there are those who don’t. Seeing someone else ‘drag through the mud’ is not pleasant and somehow others always get roped into the big fight. What once was respect and good debate and banter will turn into a hated, very heated fight. That is never worth it at all. When this happens, Ms. Parker has the right idea, as I’m sure most of you already do. She suggested ignoring the ones whose only agenda it is to act this way!
Some people don’t get into the personal aspects of blogging. They do the political blogs or talk about anything happening in our world today. Some only blog about music or celebrities or use their blog as a vehicle for their poetry or story telling.
Yes, Blogging is wonderful, and sometimes I wonder how did we exist without it before?! However, just like the Internet, blogging has become such a natural part of our lives, its as if it was always there and anyone who doesn't know that a Blog is must have been on a deserted island somewhere!
While there’s an upside to blogging, strangers become friends; some may even become a part of each others personal life offline; information is shared whether it is news, cookie recipes, ‘how to's, or shopping tips; romantic or life lessons shared; but there is also a down side to it. However, depending on which blogging community you are a part of, or whether on your own, it doesn't have to be a competition, it doesn't even have to be a "war" (of words!) it can also be satisfying!
__________________________-
Note: this is a rewrite of an article I wrote about this topic a few years ago, and remains relevant even today!
Kathleen Parker's article: http://townhall.com/columnists/kathleenparker/2005/12/28/lord_of_the_blogs (unable to locate the original published in the Orlando Sentinel)
I found some responses to Ms. Parker's article:
http://lashawnbarber.com/archives/2005/12/28/lord-of-the-blogs/
http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/lord_of_the_blogs_/
http://www.tbirdofparadise.blogspot.com/2005/12/kathleen-parker-and-lord-of-blogs.html
http://signalwriter.blogspot.com/2006/01/spoiled-bloggers.html
In her article Ms. Parker discussed one of my favorite pastime, Blogging, the people who do it, why they do, and some who even develop the most outrageous of behaviors and write in the most outrageous of manner!
For those of us who do it, blogging has become one of those treasured things we do. It has become a pleasant past time in which we engage in telling about our lives, it’s ups and down, the joys and sadness, venting and letting off steam, and even sharing our hopes and dreams. We talk about our spouses, or our better halves, our children and whatever adventures we experience.
However, there are some people who blog for one reason only. For the glorification's of themselves. They don’t care if they write something claiming it is fact when it is not, or if in doing so, someone gets hurt from what they write. Some people will tell a story so that they can have that high, their five minutes of fame.
The high comes from the amount of readers and comments on their blog. But sometimes this alone is not enough. The ride to blog-stardom involves being Number 1 or being in the top 10 of whatever blogosphere they’re a part of.
Most times they must be the first to report something. While there’s nothing wrong with that, sometimes they don’t give credit where credit is due, so there’s no accountability as to what they do. And there are times, much like in the world of writing and publishing books, there are those who plagiarizes others!
In some blogging communities, there are bloggers who will seek the demise of others. By doing this it will be the key to the gate of blogdom, or so they might think. I think if someone is like this we should definitely worry about it! These are people who will look for anything to pick at and even if it is done in error and not a deliberate act they won’t ever apologize for their actions!
For some, if their fellow bloggers don’t dot all the ‘I’s and cross all the ‘T’s then it’s a coming out party. They get a lot of pleasure in calling out the other person’s mistake and scandalizing them.
While some bloggers may deserve having this done to them, there are those who don’t. Seeing someone else ‘drag through the mud’ is not pleasant and somehow others always get roped into the big fight. What once was respect and good debate and banter will turn into a hated, very heated fight. That is never worth it at all. When this happens, Ms. Parker has the right idea, as I’m sure most of you already do. She suggested ignoring the ones whose only agenda it is to act this way!
Some people don’t get into the personal aspects of blogging. They do the political blogs or talk about anything happening in our world today. Some only blog about music or celebrities or use their blog as a vehicle for their poetry or story telling.
Yes, Blogging is wonderful, and sometimes I wonder how did we exist without it before?! However, just like the Internet, blogging has become such a natural part of our lives, its as if it was always there and anyone who doesn't know that a Blog is must have been on a deserted island somewhere!
While there’s an upside to blogging, strangers become friends; some may even become a part of each others personal life offline; information is shared whether it is news, cookie recipes, ‘how to's, or shopping tips; romantic or life lessons shared; but there is also a down side to it. However, depending on which blogging community you are a part of, or whether on your own, it doesn't have to be a competition, it doesn't even have to be a "war" (of words!) it can also be satisfying!
__________________________-
Note: this is a rewrite of an article I wrote about this topic a few years ago, and remains relevant even today!
Kathleen Parker's article: http://townhall.com/columnists/kathleenparker/2005/12/28/lord_of_the_blogs (unable to locate the original published in the Orlando Sentinel)
I found some responses to Ms. Parker's article:
http://lashawnbarber.com/archives/2005/12/28/lord-of-the-blogs/
http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/lord_of_the_blogs_/
http://www.tbirdofparadise.blogspot.com/2005/12/kathleen-parker-and-lord-of-blogs.html
http://signalwriter.blogspot.com/2006/01/spoiled-bloggers.html
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