Netiquette on blogging

Since the advent of the computer, communication between individuals has been raised to a much higher degree. If we are to believe guru Alvin Toffler we are now in another age known as the age of information.

Finally, the age of information! Don't you find it interesting that in the course of our history as a human race, the age of information should only surface at this day and age? I feel we are a bit late as wars could have stopped had we mastered the art of proper communications early on. But as it is, we were more pre-occupied with war (stone and metal ages), making things a lot easier for us (wheel and the industrial revolution) and soaring to new heights (space age) that we forgot the most basic tool given us by the Great Provider which is the ability to communicate.

Late or not, communicating with one another is a lot faster today where interaction between two or more parties is more instantaneous. As a consequence of the computer revolution, the world becomes smaller as people all over the globe can interact with one another at a much faster rate. Other than the email, one of the offshoots of the internet is blogging. Blogging started out as a personal diary where one records daily events online which later on developed into personal commentaries on current events, personal notes on issues, etc. As Andrew Sullivan puts it, "But there are also news blogs and commentary blogs, sites packed with links and quips and ideas and arguments that only months ago were the near-monopoly of established news outlets. Poised between media, blogs can be as nuanced and well-sourced as traditional journalism, but they have the immediacy of talk radio." Blogging has been so popular it has been dubbed as person of the year in 2004.

Just like any other undertaking man indulges in, there is certain code of ethics that we should follow if we want to join the bandwagon of bloggers who interact with one another. Arlene Rinaldi writes about "The Core Rules of Netiquette" and these can be found here.

I am a relatively new blogger having started in January of 2004. And in the course of my blogging, I have befriended a lot of intelligent, talented and warm people I would not have known had I not started with this endeavor. I have also learned a lot of lessons along the way and as the teacher that I am, I would like to share them with you so that you can enjoy the benefits I have reaped, in the course of what I would say, my writing career. :-)

1. People will eventually read what you write. When I started blogging, I never thought I would be read by other people. I was thinking that the blogs I read which have comment boxes actually had comments from readers because they are established writers and have been blogging for a long time. I was insecured and paranoid that what i have written was pure garbage and that I was late in joining the ride. As anybody who writes, I needed affirmation, a pat on the back that what I have written is not for naught. But how? It took me sometime to figure out that in order for me to be known in blogosphere, I would have to go out and invest time. And that i did. I commented on blogs and eventually, they, too came for a visit and stayed. Now, I still visit new sites as it is through this means that I discover wonderful people and excellent writers, thinkers and opinion makers. I comment on them and yes, they come to me, too. This world is full of wonderful people.

2. Be origina! Remember these lines? "Listen to others, even the dull and the ignorant, they, too have their story." Why blog if you haven't a thing to say yet? It is a mortal sin to plagiarize. Copying another's work and passing it as your own is a big no-no! You are not only dishonest to other people, you are being dishonest to yourself Remember, we ahve different outlooks in life, different experiences, different backgrounds. Write about them, somewhere out there, there will be someone who will be interested. I think I have covered this extensively here

3. Be nice! This is the crux of the entire post. I have had occasion to ahve read nasty comments from readers in other blogs which were really way below the belt. For whatever reason, there are readers out there who find it fun to irritate a blog owner by putting nasty comments. If you get your rocks off by doing that, you are one perverted, pathetic soul. Example, "implying that going abroad is a sure way of a husband and wife eventually separating" is nasty. You are not helping the couple ease their pain but only aggravate the loneliness they feel for the absence of one another. I shall give that commenter the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he was just trying to be funny as the blog owner in particular is popular for his funny antics and writings. That's fine. Maybe you are trying to out do the blogowner or just plainly wanted to share the fun. But we must remember that we all have varying degrees of humor sense. It could be possible that we don't have it at all. So, my suggestion is to read and re-read your comments before hitting that "post" button. I know I may have posted something that was inappropriate one time or another but it was either unintentional or that I dind't know any better. Believe me I couldn't sleep when it dawned on me that i've hurt someone. But at least, I identified myself. The offended party can always get back to me and if the complaint has merit, I can and will apologize. That's the main problem with these nasty commenters. They hide under an alias and post anonymously. That's very cowardly.

I am still lucky I haven't gotten a nasty comment yet. But who knows? My blog had been threatened before. During the height of the Patricia Evangelista controversy, my good friend the Cat was ganged up in a forum where they threatened that I and other good friends Batjay and Sassy shall be next. Should that happen, i know what i am going to do. I am not going to argue and give you the fun that you long for. I have my picture and my children's pictues in this blog which make me very vulnerable. I wouldn't erase your post as i want people to know how rude you are but i won't dignify your nasty comment with a reply. If you are picking up a fight, go someplace else as you're not getting any from me.

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