Blog like you mean it

Some bloggers choose to remain anonymous because their views are not shared by employers or local citizens. It should be recognized by all, however, that every post should be written with the understanding that the blogger may have to take responsibility for it at some inopportune time.

Whether your weblog is being used as a personal bully pulpit. or as a means of artistic expression, what you write can come back to haunt you.

My friend Terry who writes under the blog nomme de’plume name Tiger, is a generous and humorous philosopher of the legal persuasion who has entertained us for a long time with his unblinking accounts of life in a small Texas community.

He is now running for local office and persons of hostile intent have dissected his weblog archives to find things they can point out in the hopes of embarrassing him in his bid for office.

I am sure that Tiger will rise to the challenge, but he has shut down his weblog for the moment and we are the losers because of this. I hope that he finds a way to resume his blogging in the near future. You might like to send him an encouraging email. I know that he would appreciate your support.

We write our weblogs for various reasons, to rant, to wail, and in some cases, to share our feelings of joy in living. Almost always, we enjoy the incredible experience of hearing from kindred souls from all around the world.

Not everyone has the freedom (or temerity) to put their name and photo on their weblog. Those who write under less favorable circumstances can reduce the negative effects of being forced into public view by observing this simple rule:

Blog like you mean it and be prepared to stand behind everything you write.

Rebbessa Blood covers this and other ethical issues in her Weblog Handbook.

For a more comprehensive and humorous essay on the fine points of blogging, check out the Commissar’s Unified Theory of Blogging.

This entry was posted in Weblog as Power Tool. Bookmark the permalink.

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