The People Behind My Eyes

Blogger Wars
Saturday, February 25, 2006
8:09 PMI was quite bored so I went online. I abandoned the music CD’s, DVD’s and housecleaning to read what others have to say about themselves and the world they live in. what I found was quite typical of the blogger world. Most of what I read was irritating, boring and uneventful but there were some that found their way into my favorite’s folder. I’ve discovered that there are cliques online that I just refuse to be part of. I keep seeing these blog rolls that take up half the sidebar. They’re filled with links to blogs that they like to read and blogs that they don’t like to read. I’ve seen a few arguments, one of which sparked this entry here. What gets me most is, people don’t seem to realize that they can decide to not read a persons blog if they don’t like what is written. They don’t have to leave stupid ass comments (of which I’ve been guilty from time to time) and they don’t have to get personal and cross boundaries.

Let me go back to the blog roll thing for a minute. I think I have about 30 blogs in my favorites file but you’ll never see the list on my sidebar. I'm too fickle; the blogs I read change all the time. Also, I'd get pissed at someone and remove their link OR before I really knew the person I'd put their link up and find out their psychopath and have to remove it later. Another reason I don’t do it is because if for some reason a new comer made a stupid ass comment I don’t want regular readers biting their head off for one stupid ass statement. I appreciate the “loyalty” but basically it shows that mistakes aren’t welcome when they are. I cant tell you how many times I’ve said something controversial that I wish I could take back but the crowd tore me apart and there was no way I was going back to explain myself. I just don’t want that kind of tug of war on my blog. I understand both sides of it but for my blogs it has no place.

The biggest complaint I’ve seen today concerns anonymous comments. I am on the bandwagon right there, heck I'm drivin’ that wagon! My thought is this, if you don’t have a blogger account and you want to leave a comment sign some kind of name at the bottom of the comment that you leave. Type in your tag name, some sort of nickname, heck, type Blogger X for all I care, just type in something. There is no such thing as hidden glory. Come out and say it, let yourself be known or shut the fuck up. This attitude is shared by countless blog authors. If you can’t sign “a name” don’t leave a stupid ass flaming comment. One blogger was upset because someone accused her of leaving a flame anonymously. She said something to the effect of, she wants credit for all her screw-ups and public out bursts and for that reason would never leave an anonymous comment. I thought, heck yeah, if you have something to say then at least let people know who to misquote. Leaving flamed comments with no signature is like being a sniper, you may be dead on but you’ll never get close enough to feel the glory. Snipers are considered cowards when shooting an unarmed man. If you have no name then you are unarmed and I dishonor myself if I decide to shoot back.

This leads me to the issue of arguing on blogs because of cruel and flaming comments that are either signed or unsigned.
The reason I blog is different than the reason you blog. My content is different than yours because my agenda is different. My opinions are my own and yours belong to you. I can respect that. When I step into your space I bring these opinions and ideas but I have no right to ever and I do mean NEVER tell you what you should or should not think. When I have crossed the line I have always gone back to face the music. I am human like the rest of the world so I'm going to say stupid things and leave insensitive SIGNED comments but I promise you that cruelty is not normally within my nature. If I become an ass I'm going to come back around to tell you that I know I was an ass and that I owe you an apology. Of course there is no obligation to accept the apology but if I feel I owe you one you will most certainly get it. If you step into my space with nonsense know two things: one, you’ll get a second chance and two, you won’t get a third.

The last step on my soap box is, nothing is hidden on the net. Once you post an entry or a comment it’s here for the world to view. With very good visible and hidden link counters and log counters your every move can be tracked. How do you think you get so much spam in your box? Have you noticed that if you are simply clicking past a site about dog houses the next spam message you’ll get is from someone selling dog houses? (I got spammed by the dog house sellter who's blog I passed by) Yeah, check your yahoo spam box instead of just emptying it. If you surf blogger or live journals and sites like that you will see your spam box total increase significantly. Trackers are everywhere, hidden and laid out for everyone to see. They can pick up info that pretty much gives your friggin home address and phone number. Cookies let people know where you surf and how often you surf. When you click on that Internet Explorer button your every move is recorded somewhere. So just remember, even when you think you are doing something “anonymously” you’re not, this includes entries and comments.

What I write is out here on the net flowing around with the potential to be misquoted and its context misconstrued in countless languages. Case in point: the entry entitled only me where Yahoo has me listed as some sort of DID psychopath with no soul on 10 pages of their directory. This was done innocently but it drives home the point that things can sooo be taken out of context.

Keeping all these things in mind will help you when you log on and read another persons blog or when you log on to post to your own. Just know, when you blog you’ve put yourself out here with all intelligent life and all the idiots who live among us. When stupid stuff comes up show some humor or show some backbone and let it go. If you can’t let it go, ask yourself why you cant let it go. If you feel you have to impress your readers by tearing the fuck out of an anonymous reader then ask yourself why you allow this blog peer pressure to exist. And if you have nothing better to do than to start trouble ask yourself why. Why don’t have I have a life of my own? Why do I feel the need to throw dirt on others just so I can breathe? I know when I’ve left a stupid comment I feel better for a little bit but that little kick leaves after a few minutes when reality sets in. I’ve just stepped on the toes of another human being and there is nothing fun about that. Once I hit that send button I can’t take it back. Was that one moment of spilled anger worth the harm I could have caused? Not in a million years. Think before you post and when you leave comments cause it matters what you say.

Austin's August

Sticks and stones may break my bones but WORDS will crush my soul.