It is the suppression of speech or deletion of communicative material which may be considered objectionable, harmful or sensitive, as determined by a censor.
What is a blog?
A blog is a personal diary. A daily pulpit. A collaborative space. A political soapbox. A breaking-news outlet. A collection of links. Your own private thoughts. Memos to the world.
A blog is whatever you want it to be. There are millions of them, in all shapes and sizes, and there are NO real rules.
Since blogs have soared in popularity in the past ten years, they have reshaped the web, impacted politics, shaken up journalism and enabled millions of people to have a voice and connect with others.
It is a media where the author expresses their opinion or simply talks about something.
I have thrown my heart and soul into finding that one voice that will represent my blog, only to discover that I have many voices. I have also found it to be a wonderful place to vent -- whether it be about the absurdity of placing an inexperienced person into the office of vice president, or
how certain events and situations affect me.
It is a place where I write the articles that inspire me. It is a place where I dream of things to be. It is a place where I say things I probably shouldn't -- but I do anyway, because for the most part, if you are reading this you know me, or, because you have found a voice that resonates with yours and you continue to visit that blog on a daily basis because you enjoy that person's thoughts.
I bring up censorship because a certain situation took place that I found quite unsettling. I have an automatic signature at the end of every email that I send out that says "hey, check out my blog at ..." and for well over a year I haven't thought a thing about it. Despite the fact that many of the things that I blog about are somewhat personal, I am well aware that it is firmly rooted in the public domain -- and like any writer, you write because you want your voice to be heard. That is just a fact.
But I never considered a situation where I WOULDN'T want my voice to be heard. Which seems incredibly naive and foolish, but alas, it is the case.
Anyway, the situation has suddenly made me self-conscious of my words. Which isn't a good thing -- because a writer cannot be self-conscious and afraid to offend, because the thing that makes my writing different from someone else's is that I write it like it is. Or the way I perceive it to be. And isn't that my right?
Yes, I suppose it is. But in the quest of being a kind and peaceful person (which I have been saying for months is just so not me!) it would be remiss of me not to take into account that perhaps the use of vague generalizations will not completely skew the point I am trying to make. I have no desire to hurt anyone, or to pick on anyone or to make people think I am a crazy psycho lunatic. (Well, the latter I might have to reconsider ... I have NEVER wanted to be normal after all!)
By accident, people that were represented in my blog in not such a favorable light were inadvertently pointed to my blog by ... me. Via my automatic signature, I invited a whole contingent of people who in normal circumstances would never have arrived there on their own.
I think many of us have made the mistake of forwarding an email, or responding to one, that had the entire history at the bottom. Perhaps the email said something like "I am so sick of Toodles (hopefully NO ONE on the planet has that name!) and next time I see her I am going to pretend I don't know her." And then without thinking, you realize that Toodles has to bring the cookies to the next sunflower planting session so you include her in the email with all of the other sunflower planters ... and she starts reading the stuff below ... and well. It's the type of thing that makes your stomach turn.
The type of thing that makes you wish you could take it all back.
But you can't, so you have to move on and learn from the experience and realize that when you throw your words out into the world, ANYONE can read them and ANYONE can interpret them the way they want to.
So with that knowledge, I will continue to blog in my usual fashion, only with a little more finesse.
2 comments:
Your blogs are many things...comical, inspiring, thought provoking, entertaining... to name a few.
Don't change a thing! Those of us who belong here appreciate the blog, and you.
Don't change a thing!
Have you ever heard of "My Turn" from Newsweek? I think this would make A VERY compelling submission. And if not there... look around, I think this is a very smart entry that is relatable to more people than you know.
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