Nothing is as sad to me as to witness wars between blogs. They are so counterproductive.
Yesterday, on Watergate Summer (see Links), I read a really vicious comment from someone who has his own blog but was unhappy that Enigma was supporting a certain candidate in the Presidential Circus. So he let rip. Filthy language and dire insults were aplenty! Obviously the comment was soon deleted as it should have been. Unfortunately, it’s aftermath lives on.
Even in Australia, we are not free from such unfortunate and unnecessary wars. I say unfortunate because the internet is the only forum where people can more or less say what they want (as least at this stage although Desert Peace is suggesting that Google is starting to carry out its own sanctioning and banning of certain blogs critical of Israel).
Of course, total freedom of speech is not always a good thing because some people are uncouth, irrational and small-minded and, given free reign because of lax or non-existent moderation, will relentlessly attack anyone who in not part of their mindless herd. I have withdrawn from several such sites because of such morons. It’s not that I lack the courage to fight them but it’s rather pointless. Besides, it’s very possible that some of them are actually paid or unpaid accomplices of the blog management who are planted there to stir.
Some large blogs try to encourage conflict between commenters while guileless onlookers and ankle-biters, with the sniff of blood in their nostrils, applaud. Birds of a feather flock together!
Other blogs seem to spring into existence mainly to criticize blogs from which the author’s have withdrawn or been banned. These blogs then periodically spar with the management of the original blog and, across cyberspace, try to point score and visa versa. Now, to me, nothing is more sad than, in a deeply conflicted world like ours, people arguing with each other over who said what to who on a blog and whether what was said was fair or ethical or transparent or…blah, blah, blah!
The bottom line is that each blog is run by a human being or a group of human beings. That human being (or a group thereof) has the right to set the rules for their blog no matter how extreme or unfair they might be. Given that reality, we all know that humans are flawed. Every blog therefore must be flawed (including this one).
There are 70 million plus blogs in the world. If you don’t like one of them or you’re in conflict with the management of said blog or you’ve been banned, forget about that blog and find another one or start your own. The important thing is to spend your time dealing with serious world issues, of which there are many, or pursuing your particular interest or hobby or whatever, not fighting old battles.
The only winners from blog wars are our masters who would further divide us, who would keep us from righting some of the wrongs in the world. But, most despicable of all in my opinion, are blog authors who, using a combination of attack-dogs, stirrers and/or biased moderation, deliberately manipulate their readership, then feel supremely powerful and on a high when they get a group of genuine folk seething with anger and frustration and commenting like crazy. And if they can also get other blogs to fight with them and/or talk about them, they are in seventh heaven!
But it need not be this way. Surely rational people can choose whether they want to be manipulated by others or not! A click of a mouse is all it takes and the manipulation stops. Forever.
Bloggers united make a formidable force. Divided we are nothing more than a powerless rabble.
Let’s work together, eh? Or simply agree to disagree and move on.
My simple philosophy is that if i don’t like a blog, i don’t go there again but as bloggers we are putting our opinion our there for everyone else to read and agree or pick apart. You are always going to get idiots who try to insult you from the safety of their computers but you need to shake your head, sigh and ignore them.
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I think people get “chips on their shoulders” over certain sites when they are banned for no apparent reason. This happened to me at Information Clearing House, although the site handlers know that I KNOW what they are up to. This is especially annoying when a person has contributed money to their site. When a person that is banned writes to request a “reason” for the ban and is not even given the respect of a response, this is BAD practice….obviously, ICH is having problems when they are getting more frantic when they post for money contributions and people are not giving as before.
I was banned because I KNOW who the site administrator is. This person started writing to me when we had personal mail boxes there (taken out last summer when the site went through its transfer of ownership). I naively believed their “story” and did not at first suspect this was an individual linked to the site itself. (I told him my hometown, and so now they know where I live…he called me out of the blue one night on the phone even though I did not give my phone number).
Well, a long story short, I know that this site is not what it says, it may well be an operative run site, a very possibility. My home ISP as well as Work Isp were banned, which the work ISP was only known by the site administrator. I was banned out of the blue…never posting anything obscene or crude like so many do and get away with (and banned after I no longer showed an interest in this individual or continuing on with a “lie” of an internet correspondence which this person KNEW I KNEW they were connected to this site)
So, yes, people should just find other sites, but I do miss talking to some of the people over there, although most of the really neat people, I notice are gone now. All that is left there is the ones battling each other over zionism and the main ones that post ARE linked to the site itself.
Its disturbing when a site mis-represents itself. Under todays climate, it is very hard to trust, ESPECIALLY when “confusion” and mind control seem to be the agenda of the Elites. (I hate calling them that, but we all know who “they” are).
I have been looking around at your site and it looks like you are doing a good job. I hope more people consider moving here for some good dialogue and food for thought.
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Lucy, what disturbs me is the number of uninformed and unintelligent people who happily put their opinion out there!
Cat, thanks for calling by. There seem to be a lot of websites that are up to funny tricks: ones where the authors put their own comments on the site under false names, ones where websites collude with each other and promote each other, ones that have sly or mischievous agendas and, as I’ve described, those where the authors are on an ego trip and just love manipulating people and will use any means including ‘plants’ to do so.
Cheers.
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The reality is that such things can start so easily and they can very quickly develop a sort of inertia that can be very hard to stop. this is especially the case when the protagonists are anonymous as the sort of restraints that we may have when talking in the real world are not in play.
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oh I am so sorry that you saw that , the Future was Yesterday has been haunting me for monthes- and the comments/attacks are so rude…I try to delete them so no one has to see them..so sorry….
I do what I can…but women are considered Fair Game and this Election season has been rough ….but we do what we can….thank you for caring…
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Put your comment approval device on for a few weeks, Enigma. He’ll soon get sick of having his comments deleted before they’re published!
Cheers.
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