Sedition on Blogs

Trust good ol' Mack to clarify the issue and suggest a solution. Its an unfortunate truth that most users of the Internet (i intentionally avoided the use of the word "blog", i'll tell you why later) probably find it too troublesome to think before they write. Its always been that way, and there is too little evidence now to suggest this will change anytime soon.

A reporter of the NST called me today, perhaps looking for a soundbite on the issue for an article he was writing. Among other things, i think the most important thing i told him was:

1. A blog is property. A blogger is the owner. Ownership means responsibility. If something bad happens on your property, that makes you ultimately responsible.

2. What's happening now is nothing new. Before blogs, we saw this sort of thing happen on BBS, Usenet, chatrooms, etc. Blogs are simply another avenue of expression -- its not right for bloggers to bear the weight of a bad rep (i can imagine parents everywhere telling their kids not to "blog" because it can land them in jail); blogs or no, people have been using the Internet to say what they want to say since the early days of a 9kbps modem connections.

Bloggers have their bit to do in all of this -- we would prefer to be known as "those who make a difference", instead of those who "would rather be different". The former is a noble cause, the latter is pointless. Use the Internet wisely, take care of your property carefully, promote harmony not discord, restrain hatred wherever you may find it -- every little bit counts.