Quote of the Day: "Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self." -- Cyril Connolly, critic and editor (1903-1974)
For the past couple of days, I've been following a cross-blog discussion that is basically about whether one has the right to write whatever one wants to in their blog.
The fracas all started with Jonathon Delacour writing about the changes to the format of his blog and his adventures with CSS. Interesting to some (Moi, included), but obviously not to others, namely Matthew Thomas.
Such is life - if it's not interesting, move on. Surely with all the blogs out there, one can find blogs that are more to one's liking.
Apparently, MT was not at all happy with the recent content of JD's blog. Writing in his own defense, he claims his criticism was an Aussie vs NZ kind of thing, but I don't know about that, not being an Aussie nor a New Zealander. Just seemed kind of rude to me.
Meryl Yourish (aka NJ Meryl) jumped to the defense of her blogging buddy (as I probably would have done, if I were Meryl), and then the slings and arrows began to fly all across Blogdom.
You'll have to read the various blogs if you want to follow the discussion. I'm not providing links to the individual posts.<g> (sorry Meryl, don't like smileys, but I'm not giving up my <g>s - they are sooo much a part of me. After all, no one can see the silly expressions on my face over the web.)
In following the discussion, which was also mentioned in Texas (not to be confused with NJ) Meryl's blog, I happened on a comment to her posting from Madhu "MadMan" Menon, whose blog I read on occasion. In the comment "MadMan" referred to an article he wrote in his Blog that was similar in nature.
In his article, he mentions another article (are you following this convoluted path?) - Why Blogger Empowers Mindless Nits , by Morbus - which made me angry ... and that's the whole purpose of this round about posting.
In this article, the author lambastes, not only bloggers, but personal web page makers as well. He says:
"Yes, those worthless waste's of bandwidth where desperate and self-indulgent people would shove pictures of their dog down your saturated pipe, or little Mickey in his 'cutest outfit yet', or the equivalent of endless slide shows about their most treasured vacation."
He goes on and on about what a pointless waste of time all these blogs and personal pages are. He concludes by saying ...
"If it's useless, you're wasting resources. The Internet is full. Go away."
Well, excuse me, how rude and arrogant can you get! Psst Morbus, did it ever occur to you that some of us might consider your blog a "worthless waste's of bandwidth?"
I could even pick on your grammar or lack thereof, but I won't stoop to that level. <hint> there shouldn't be an apostrophe in wastes - among other things. </hint> Nor will I throw grammar and spelling stones when I know that I occasionally dwell in a glass domicile myself <g>. I have been known to use some creative grammar on occasion, however one must keep in mind that it is necessary to know the rules, before you break them on purpose.
It's like the spam thing. I just don't get the whole ruckus.
If people want to make a web site or blog that that contains chatter about babies or cats or dogs or vacations or adventures with CSS, that is their inalienable right. No one ... I repeat, no one has the right to tell them to "go away" or stop writing about such subjects.
Don't get me wrong - you certainly have the right to your opinion on whether such content is worthwhile or simply tripe, and you have the right to express that opinion - but you don't have the right to tell others to stop writing or blogging.
Like Voltaire, "I may not agree with what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it." I'm not telling anyone to stop condemning that which they do not like, I'm simply expressing my opinion that telling them "The Internet is full. Go away," is rude and arrogant.
If the page you're on isn't to your liking (mine included), move along. One click in your bookmarks will take you someplace else. It's a big internet. There's room for everyone. No one is forcing you to read any web page or blog that you don't want to.
No one forced me to read Morbus' diatribe. I chose to read it because IMO, the path to wisdom is through knowledge - knowledge of all things, not just the things you like. By exposing oneself to all viewpoints one might even discover that the viewpoint you hold most dear is out of focus.
And so I celebrate the differences. I celebrate the variety of content that can be found on the web. I celebrate the most erudite, and I celebrate the most banal as well.
In my opinion, that is the glory of the web. It is a place where you can be free to be who you are ... even if you don't know who you are, but are still on a journey to find that person.
Perhaps Morbus doesn't want to read about the dogs or Mickey or vacations, but I'd be willing to bet the farm, that someone does. Maybe it's just Mickey's grandparents or aunts and uncles. Maybe the dog lovers want to see pictures of other people's pets. Perhaps someone considering a vacation is looking at the vacation pictures. Possibly someone stumbled across them and it brought a smile or a tear. They made a connection and that matters.
And perhaps no one is looking at them at all, and they are just out there, like the proverbial tree falling in the forest with no one to hear it. So what. They are not harming anyone and I'm quite sure they matter to the person who put them there. I'm quite sure that person feels what they have to say is just as important as Morbus and Matthew Thomas think what they have to say is important.
In case you missed it, I shall repeat today's quote - "Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self." (Cyril Connolly) - and I shall add William Shakespeare's - "This above all; to thine own self be true."
That's about all you owe anyone ... that and respect for the right of others to be true to themselves as well.
Posted by Cyberkat at February 16, 2002 1:48 PM | TrackBack