30 Years ago, hairdressers were often prohibited from talking with clients about sex, politics & religion - known widely at the time as "the 3 taboos." Not much has changed, though the platforms where the conversations take place have - though we can talk about sex, at least, no doubt also with great help from the Internet. What has changed in the UK (and probably elsewhere) is the importance placed by many on what we say & often the aftermath of its wider dissemination differs greatly from the initial reaction to it. This makes attacks outside of cyberspace easier, particularly where the wider expectations of one's "real life" identity come into play with a vengeance. Digital footprints can be difficult to eradicate completely & therefore some of the spontaneity many of us express online can be a real problem for ourselves.
I therefore completely agree about focus & think even that new bloggers should research this carefully before telling us every single thought that comes into their heads.
However, I like blogging as a medium & it would be a shame if we all became too careful in our strategies rather than being freer and perhaps a lot less formal than the "grown up" media that nobody really reads.
3 comments:
Always happy to hear anyone's view on the 3 taboos in blogs (not that I read blogs about those sort of things much), and I am all for people daring to say what they want even if it will provoke criticism. What I DO object to about the blog-o-sphere is the way in which some think that every aspect of their domestic life is of interest to anyone except their nearest and dearest. You know - Oh, it's been another wacky week here in potential sitcom land, with Stroppy Teenager, Long-Suffering Husband, Goofy Sister and Dog With Character. God save me from all that shit!!!!
Nice to see you Terry. I always love your comments and your honesty. The woman who's blog I graced with this extensive comment edited the fkg thing down to a 1st paragraph so I'm glad I posted it here in its entirety. Cheeky fucker. I'll not be visiting her in future. I do find at in the mundane. An example is the piece a quote some time ago entitled "axe murderer" which is really an inner thought conversation a guy has while waiting on his order in an Indian takeaway.
You're right though that a lot of people talk about trivial, mundane boring shit in a trivial, mundane boring way and really should ideally be eradicated from the Internet altogether. Then again, I think most of the social conversation I had in places of work or elsewhere is also bereft of any meaningful content.
Thank God 4us Terry, that's all I can say x
What, you did a guest post and it was chopped? Cheeky indeed. Re the 'our zany domestic life' blogs, trouble is that they've been done quite successfully by a couple of people like Jilly Cooper, but most of the people who try to emulate that aren't good enough writers to make it compelling - and it's all been done before, and before, and before, and.....
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