Blog Like Div

My dear readers,

I was excited that the debate on Pesuvom was going to discuss Blogging. I maintained hope that the debate will actually focus on what I would see as the issues on hand. After watching the show, I was disappointed that the producers missed out on an excellent opportunity for a debate, instead choosing to focus on miniscule issues that don't even merit mention in the larger scheme of things. So much potential, such a loss!

I must add at this juncture, that the participants on both camps were making many attempts to engage the issues of social responsibility and freedom of speech. And in my perception, the moderator of the dialogue failed in her objective in addressing the issues, choosing instead to focus on miniscule and irrelevant things like the use of vulgarity. It became very monotonous after some time, when she began to harp on things like 'but don't you think about how you are going to hurt the other person's feelings?'

She is a good speaker, but this episode seemed to reveal that she had clearly not done her research, and failed to raise some pertinent points that ought to have been raised. I'd like to think that the whole debate was flushed down the big sewer otherwise known 'the PR circus of showbiz'.

Throughout the show, I noticed that there were mixed definitions on the understanding of a blog. As I see it, proclaiming a blog as an online diary is a wrong parameter to work with. If you are making an entry to a blog, there are certain steps you follow. Most importantly when you finish with your entry, you push the 'publish' button. Here we have an obvious indication that the blog in question is a publication, very much like a newspaper column on cyberspace. What you say, you say it in one of the most vast and wide open spaces ever created, to an audience that constitutes anyone in the world with internet access. The term 'diary' indicates that your blog is a private one and for private consumption only.

Another paradigm of blogging that the show tried to address, but failed spectacularly, was the issue of ethical or responsible blogging. I feel that an average blogger often fails to grasp the ethical considerations of posting his or her opinions online.

The argument that a person can choose not to read a blog is immature and limited. It just reveals that the blogger is trying not to take ownership for his or her words and opinions. So when one of the panelists raised this opinion, I was itching to get up there and give her an intellectual slap.

While many might disagree with me on this, I felt that the introduction of the Ms. Vasantham contestants into the panel, as 'victims' of negative comments on blogs was a master stroke which brought home an important point. More often than not, the erstwhile blogger is imbibed with a false sense of isolation and privacy when he types from the relative anonymity of his personal computer. He forgets that there are others who read his blog and people who are impacted by his words. The idea of 'putting a blogger in a tight spot' by making him confront the very people he was making a negative comment about was in theory a good one.

Of course, the producers lost the plot when they kept harping on the issue, not giving the blogger a chance to defend himself and develop his argument about how as a celebrity in the public eye, one must be prepared to deal with all kinds of comments. As the debate sunk into finger pointing, I was saddened.

The idea of "Freedom of Speech" being interpreted as 'using bad words, four lettered words and vulgarity' was the biggest disappointment of the show. As bloggers, we all know that freedom of speech extends beyond that. While some attempt was made to define parameters of this freedom to exclude personal attacks and racist attacks, as dictated by the law, it once again failed to address the main issue of this whole debate.

Ethical or Responsible Blogging in the context of Freedom of Speech.

Ultimately, what we wish to write on our blogs is our choice. But as bloggers we have to take ownership for what we write, and stop ducking behind regulations and definitions. We have to be responsible bloggers. This does not mean 'writing about social issues' as some of the panelists seem to think. In fact, it has very little to do with the content of our entries.

As an Indian, I take a step back to look at the culture that weaned me and made me the person I am, to define my role and responsibilities as a blogger. The Second Law of Manu, the great Indian political philosopher states that a king does not rule for himself, his dynasty, his clan, his varna [caste] or family. He rules for his people.

While we bloggers are not leaders of great nations, we are leaders in our own right, expressing opinions that will shape the ideology and opinions of our readers in this exciting new medium of blogging. It is in this context that I frame my opinion. I believe in the freedom of expressing one's opinion, but I strongly believe that this has to be tempered by a sense of what impact these opinions will have. Ultimately, this is what we must carry within our hearts when we try to be a responsible blogger.

Why do I say this? As bloggers, it might help if we remember that the pen/keyboard is a powerful instrument. To cite Spiderman, with great power comes great responsibility. We can instead turn this powerful medium of free expression towards making a positive impact.

Plato alludes to his cave of ignorance where the inhabitants view the shadows of people going and coming and decides that that is the world. Most people are inhabitants of that metaphorical cave, and the 'shadows' they see are in the Internet and on television. We the enlightened ones must lead them to the light. Bloggers are the enlightened ones of cyberspace, since people will read our writing, and form opinions on the things they don't know or understand based on how we explain it to them.

However benign the writer's intentions were, emotional pain and a ruined reputation are not things that can be fixed with an apology and cash settlement. One cannot mitigate the fact that lives have been ruined, and will continue to be ruined under the weight of irresponsible journalism, both on print and online.

Blogging fails in its objective the moment it crosses the boundaries of graciousness, because it reveals that the blogger has failed to understand his position as a person with the power to shape the opinions and ideas of his readers.

As Indians, we are weaned on a culture that advocates graciousness, with our literature, myth and legends ripe with heroes who were generous and kind. As Indian Bloggers, we really must remember to spread this very graciousness that is such a big part of our culture. It will only serve to cement our KLK identity.

In other words, think before you blog.

At the end of this post, you would have realised that I have very grandiose opinions about blogging. However, I do hope that this post at least shows the world that not all bloggers have fluff between their eyes, and that some of us do make an effort to understand our roles as bloggers and warriors on the frontier of free speech, and defendants of the KLK-identity in cyberspace.