Monday, July 7, 2008

Blogging my views on Blogging

My love for writing goes way back when I was still maintaining stapled intermediate sheets and other vintage looking diaries to the point of using notebooks with Carmina Villaroel on the cover. My fingers would literally hurt from the continuous pressure of writing. But since technology now is made accessible and available, out of curiosity and convenience, I did surrender.

I took Blogging seriously late last year. It was one of the most enjoyable decisions I've ever made in my entire life. I'm loving every minute of it. This not only holds a venue for my efforts in writing, but it serves as one of the best, adaptable and convenient therapies in my life.

But it seems there are a couple of news and situations lately in the blogosphere that really made me feel wary. Blogosphere feuds are everywhere, and when I mean feud, it's a feud that involves legal matters and authorities. It's bad enough that some blogs really post offensive materials and subjects, not that I restrict them, I am always for pro-self expression anyways. But some blogs are just way beyond control and creates something that is easily discarded as it goes beyond the imaginary rules. But the main problem is, there are no rules to begin with. It's any blogger's conscience and code of honor, but what are my personal reasons and rules for blogging?

Much as most people would want to administer the subjects of blogs, the truth is we cannot, that is why more people are attracted to blogging in the first place. Blogging offers a very healthy room for freedom of expression. It is very encouraging and very convenient. Yet such freedom offers greater weight on the responsibility side. So if you're going to blog might as well..


1. Know Your Objective

Know the objective of your blog whether it may be a repository of your ideas, an online venue for concentrated topics or a diary that serves as your social net profile. Blogging is never easy and often times personal to most people, that's why if you're just bored one day and decided to make a blog and in event abandoning it the next day, I suggest just watching a movie.

2. Honesty Matters....Believe me.

There are some blog sites that condone making up stories. According to their views it is just a blog anyways, and nobody cares if you're telling the truth. Wrong. Most bloggers care about the truth. Information on the net is still a form of information. As far as I'm concerned, nobody wants to receive false information. Believe me, we don't really have time for lying bastards out there. We can experience lies in the real world, involuntarily, and in surplus.

3. Blogging is a gateway for a relationship

I'm not talking about finding your soulmate through blogging, although it's possible. The "relationship" I'm talking about is not necessarily referring to a romantic one. It's a relationship you aim to build with other bloggers out there who might pass by your site and take interest. You post a blog so that people, random people, could read it. It's quite stupid and pointless really if you post something on the net and cry if there aren't good comments coming your way. That's not fair since you're both operating on the same field. Relationships are formed through proactive ways of discussion, and that's what blogs offer.

4. Put some Integrity into it

If you're going to blog with whatever material or objective you have in mind, might as well show some integrity to it. It's different if you get tired of blogging and decided to close it down versus some inconvenient thing that you're trying to hide from. Speaking from personal experience, I know this particular incident wherein a blogger, whom I've somehow monitored due to unappealing events, abruptly closed down her site after diligently posting, just because she couldn't stand her own identity in the Blogosphere. She might be hiding from someone or wanted to escape something and believe me I could formulate a thousand reasons behind it. In doing something powerful such as blogging better put some integrity or dignity to it because if you publicly give up and subtly pronounce your shame on yourself, then no respect could be garnered from that.

These are the four major pillars that I think is important when blogs are considered. I do not necessarily bash poorly written blogs. Whoever has a perfect grasp in grammar anyways? I do not even condemn objects or topics that are relatively offensive as long as it's done with integrity. Some people have gotten their objectives way out of hand that they only think of themselves and the returns (publicity, money, etc.). They are quite forgetting that blogs are publicly displayed which makes it very powerful. Some might wield freedom and power in the wrong places that they might forget certain morals and make the sense of integrity suffer.

Blogs are aimed for expression, reflection of self and ideas. And it's promising to know that it's done out of sensible thinking. Blogging doesn't rid anyone of responsibilities. We are responsible for each other and the information we put for the world to see. Let's not wait for certain rules to be imposed. As long as any blogger has a sense of integrity and responsibility, then he or she doesn't have any reason to close her blog down.

2 comments:

Ravon said...

I think honesty really matters. There are people out there who believes in what a blog entry says without any cross-referencing. That is a bad mistake but there are people who do that. Sometimes I bloggers can be pretty influential to others mind and honesty is one value that every blogger should possess.

kaye layson said...

At some extent even some bloggers are honest but they tend to fabricate things just so to make their blogs interesting. They're kind of forgetting that the Blogosphere is a pretty accessible world and to falsify or fabricate certain information can haunt them. Here in the Philippines alone, there are libel cases here and there and some reputations were destroyed. It's just sad.