How Should we Use Our Blogging Platform?
There is no doubt about it, bloggers can be very powerful.
Words written in a post can be enough to incite wars that rage across continents or movements that contribute to the removal of big name sponsorships from radio programmes.
It can be a wonderful thing to know that sometimes you are in a position to cause an effect or create a movement, but sometimes it can be a very scary thing.
Sometimes your powerful effect could be a negative result that affects so many more people then you thought it would.
That is why you have to be so careful in your decisions as to what you should write in a post. It should not be done in haste, and careful consideration should be given to your motives.
Are you really trying to help and make a difference? Or are you just having a whinge and trying to be powerful?
I have been battling with a decision in regards to what to write in regards to my recent experience in hospital. I don’t think I am all that powerful really, but I know what I write would could have a negative effect on the hospital and those that work there.
A group of powerful bloggers meet at an airport!
I did receive some kind and gentle care and there were wonderful people within the system taking care of me and trying to make my situation better. But, it was also a series of mistakes and poor care that resulted in a lot more pain and stress for me.
My main thought has been to just let it go and stick to making this blog one of a positive atmosphere. That is the world I desire and I believe you have to be the change.
There is so much whinging and negativity going on in the blogosphere, I don’t want my little world to go down that track, as I despise the nastiness and bitterness that goes on.
But, what if me speaking out can help prevent someone else from being mistreated?
Someone whose repercussions could be worse than mine.
I think I at least need to make a formal complaint to the hospital before deciding to write about it on here.
I’ve seen people use their blogging platforms in good and bad ways. I’ve seen people want to use it in good ways, but did not think through carefully enough what they were saying and the number of different people negatively affected by is written.
It is important to choose your words carefully, as we parents often tell our children as they are learning to communicate.
How do you think bloggers should use their platform? Can they take the power a little too far? Where should the line be drawn?
Comments
Bret @ Green Global Travel
For me, my central blogging principal is to ask, “Will what I’m about to say make the world a better place, even if it’s just for one person?” If the answer is yes, then I say it. There will always be grousers and people who claim that diamonds are, in fact, lumps of coal. But in my eyes, we can’t worry about them, as they have (and are) their own crosses to bear.
In my “real job” as a journalist, part of my writing is cultural criticism, and I view my criticisms as a form of consumer advocacy. People have a choice of what CDs they buy, what movies they watch, what travel destinations they visit, and we as writers help them make those decisions. If what you can write about the hospital can improve other people’s experiences there (or help them choose a different hospital, if necessary), then by all means I think some constructive criticism can only help.
It’s the “constructive” part of criticism that I think throws some people for a loop! 😉
Caz
Great blogging principal Bret! Thank you so much for commenting and sharing your thoughts on here. I really appreciate it.
Really giving me some cause for thought. I am not sure if writing it on here would make much of a difference as I probably don’t have a lot of readers in the local area.
Constructive is always the way to go- teaching taught me that one! Sometimes I had to restrain myself to stay within the boundaries of “constructive” 🙂
Dorothy @ Singular Insanity
I don’t think there are any “shoulds” when it comes to blogging. Blogs are our pesonal (yet public) spaces. Each of us has a right to use them any way they like. It is also our choice not to read blogs, or individual posts, that don’t align with our values.
If I think too much about my blog and about who is reading it and about what it means, the quality of my writing suffers. But then, I primarily write to express myself. Not to send a message. Yet, I understand that by the mere act of blogging, I do send one. I don’t see it as a power. I see it as a freedom.
Caz
I love that Dorothy- see it as a freedom! I think I mostly blog on here for expression but mix it in with sending messages. I can definitely see the two different posts I could write about the incident if I looked at it from these two viewpoints. Maybe I should just write about it from an expressive point of view rather than trying to rock the boat.
Thank you for the thought provoking comment!
Nikki @ Styling You
I would probably make the formal complaint first to see if any action or compensation is forthcoming. If not then consider if the complaint blog post would actually make a difference to someone else?
That’s just me though … it’s your blog and your space to do with what you’d like xx
Caz
I think that is what I am going to do. Even when i go to make the formal complaint I get a bit panicked because i don’t want anyone to lose their job or anything, but the care was pretty appalling. sometimes I wonder if it is a government funding thing which just makes them so short on resources- but still it could happen to someone and have far worse consequences which is not good.
loulou
Hi miss Caz
I use my blog within the way I want my destiny to be – positive!
I know too well – no one likes to be around a sad sap or a negative person.
It is all in the delivery and the way the words are written as there are no facial expressions to be seen.
I think you are intelligent enough to shine on your blog if you wish to say something that may not be the most positive.
With regards to whingy blogs – as long as someone doesn’t whinge to me on their blog constantly that is ok but if I see it consistently – I shut off and rather not visit.
Choose your words and you would be fine 1. compliment – 2. say your beef – 3. compliment
Have a wonderful day,
loulou, from hereiamloulou blog
x
Caz
Love the compliment, negative, compliment- it’s what I had to do all the time as a teacher writing reports. Cushion the blow!! Works a treat.
I think positive light is the best way to go, the odd complaint or snarky day is allowed. I’ve been a bit snarky the last couple of days, but I am going to blame the medication and pain on that one 🙂
Roxanne
I have seen people complaining on a blog or Twitter about things that I think don’t belong online. They use their words as weapons. I think that we need to start offline in certain cases, make a formal complaint and see what happens. If for some reason it takes way too long and they won’t listen, things might get different. but like you I rather think before I type about it on my blog, somehow that feels better…
Caz
Great advice Roxanne. I agree that some people use their words as weapons. We have to learn to choose them carefully
Tat
I try to keep my blog positive. If I have a negative experience, I sit on it and look for lessons I have learned or another way to present the situation that can help someone else. But your post made me think, am I taking the positivity too far?
For example, a few months ago I bought a digital product. The product itself was what I expected, but the email support and the coaching guarantee that were meant to come with it were non-existent. Now I’m trying to get my money back and no one from the company is responding. I was just going to leave it at that – I didn’t feel the money I lost was worth the effort of pursuing it further. But after reading your post I’m thinking – people probably need to know about it, so that they don’t make the same mistake.
Roxanne P-CH
I’m very new to the blogging world so really just pleased I read your post. I think, as in all areas of life, it’s important to choose words carefully. Words are very powerful things. I also agree that sometimes it is justified to complain, it’s how you do it.
Caz Makepeace
Hi Roxanne! Thanks so much for reading my post. We tell our children from the moment they start speaking to choose their words carefully, if only many people remember that advice the older they get.