Personal blogs are supposed to be the extension of the writer. They are expressions of one’s thoughts, for the rest of the world to see. What one thinks is thus to be read by others. If a blogger thinks using certain words, then it is but logical for these words to be seen “on paper,†isn’t it?
The reason for these musings is a news article I read about an Australian politician. Apparently, he had things going for him in the political arena – that is, until his party found out about his blog. Several months prior to his candidacy, he had apparently used “foul-mouthed†words in his blog posts. As a result, his political aspirations were cut down. I shall not mention the exact words he used in his blog but let’s just say that they were words that probably come out of the average (cussin’) guy’s mouth.
The question of whether one should use such words in a blog remains, though. I was thinking how it was a pity that that thing happened to the Australian politician when he was probably just being himself. Then again, I realized that just because blogs are personal does it mean that we have the liberty to be vulgar. This area is very much a gray area in the realm of blog writing, though. We do want freedom of speech and expression yet we do not want to unnecessarily offend anyone’s sensibilities, do we? I think the bottom line is the purpose and nature of your blog. You have to be sensitive to your targeted audience and write accordingly. No matter what though, I think that the use of “sensitive†words should be used with a certain degree of tact and taste. What do you guys think?
Originally posted on August 15, 2007 @ 10:31 am
