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October 14: Can you write whatever you want? (Anna)
Prompts: Can bloggers just write whatever they want? Or are there boundaries they should respect even on their own platform? If a blogger is called out for something they post, are they obligated to respond?
Welcome back to another week of LTB here at DTRH everyone! Today’s topic is quite interesting, and something that I didn’t immediately have an answer too. As a relatively new blogger myself, I don’t feel like I have seen enough iterations of the community to know what may hold true or not over time, but I’d love to hear what the rest of you out there feel or instinctively think about this!
I suppose I do have an immediate thought that yes it’s your own personal blog and you can realistically write almost anything you want. That being said, because it’s not just a personal diary, in which I think you really could have no limits on what you write, a blog is something public and to be shared and read by the community (with that intention in mind!). In that case, I feel like just naturally there should be some restrictions, are at the very least, considerations before posting just whatever you want.
I think as a personal blog, we should definitely allow a large degree of freedom, and after all, it is really more like an open discussion forum where we are free to express our opinions. That being said, I definitely wouldn’t support anyone spreading hate speech or anything like that on such a public forum. I have not seen any of that around in our community, so I don’t think this will be an issue, but I am grateful all the same.
Definitely any opinions on books, and other bookish content, etc., should have full disclosure. I mean, that is the point of a blog, is it not? As for other content…I think people should use their best discretion as to what they do or do not say. One thing to remember is that the blog is an extension of yourself, and people will judge (or at least realize) more about your character based on what they see and read. In that case, it may just be best not to express things that you wouldn’t say in public, for example. But I would leave it up to each person’s discretion as to what they want to divulge and share about themselves rather than set “rules and boundaries” in the abstract.
I have never personally seen someone “called out” for something on their blog, though I can imagine it happening easily over controversial topics or books. I don’t think anyone is obligated to reply, but I can see many reasons why one may want to defend or address their own opinion. Sometimes posts or comments just don’t age well, and we can’t always put the full blame on the writer (though there should likely still be some accountability).
What do you all think about the freedom of a blogger to express their own opinions? Unlimited free rein over the internet? Or maybe something a little bit more subdued? I think I tend to lean towards freedom with each person using their own discretion, but this doesn’t always work, unsurprisingly. What do you all think? Let me know in the comments below!
Down the Rabbit Hole 
My initial response to the question was also, “Of course you can write whatever you want,” but I’ve loved seeing other people’s takes and digging down and realizing, “Well, probably don’t write a list titled ‘Book Bloggers Who Suck and You Shouldn’t Follow.'” It’s just that most of the blogging community is so nice, I can’t really imagine most people writing something horribly mean!
My co-blogger did write a post about why she doesn’t personally read blog tours a while ago, however, and it went over REALLY badly with a few other bloggers (in spite of the fact many other bloggers agreed they don’t read blog tours either). And I tried to apologize and explain it wasn’t meant the way they were taking the post and that we support other book bloggers, etc. but unfortunately my response did not help. Everyone who was angry basically replied with a variation on, “Oh, I know EXACTLY what you meant! You MEANT to insult us! You can’t fool me and say you didn’t mean it PRECISELY the way I interpreted it!’ I also got a couple tweets to the tune of, “I hope no one reads your crappy blog and you all go down in flames!” I eventually just had to block a few people because attempting to talk through the situation was not going anywhere. 😦 So I guess you can try to reply if people call you out for something you wrote, but there’s certainly no guarantee people will accept or believe your apology or response.
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Wow I’m sorry you had to experience that! But yeah, there’s only so much you can do about other people’s opinions at some point. Totally see why you would have to do that!
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Right, you do have a point with how more public our blogs are; something that I didn’t took into consideration in my own post, aswell as the big nono of bashing the author for a bad book. You should also think accordingly as per security purposes.. some things just can’t be said on the internet ofcourse 😅
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You know it! Haha. I agree on the no bashing of an author for a “bad” book!
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