The Bloggers With The Most To Say
Blogging vs. Real Life
There have been a few topics on blog friends and real life friends but I wanted to get into something a little different. Yesterday I got a long message saying that my blog "was a huge
retardation of freedom of speech, and violated many people the rights
to personal privacy" including my deceased best friend. I have written about her death, how none of it makes sense, and no one really tried to help her.
A lot of real life friends don't understand why I blog or why it's important to me and it starts to get really frustrating when they think it's all about attention. I'm always very open with my past mistakes, feelings, and depression so when I write about it people think it's the "wrong way" to go about it, or grieve. Being open and honest is something I take pride in but when people get negative about it, it becomes more difficult.
Has anyone else ever run into problems with what you write and real life friends who don't agree with it?
retardation of freedom of speech, and violated many people the rights
to personal privacy" including my deceased best friend. I have written about her death, how none of it makes sense, and no one really tried to help her.
A lot of real life friends don't understand why I blog or why it's important to me and it starts to get really frustrating when they think it's all about attention. I'm always very open with my past mistakes, feelings, and depression so when I write about it people think it's the "wrong way" to go about it, or grieve. Being open and honest is something I take pride in but when people get negative about it, it becomes more difficult.
Has anyone else ever run into problems with what you write and real life friends who don't agree with it?
Tags: blogging, controversy, friends, life, real
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Allison on -
I have never really faced this problem, and I actually rarely get negative comments (other than people just disagree with my opinion, but that happens anywhere!) so I don't know how to respond. But I will say that it's actually a misconception that people have a right to privacy. It's not in the constitution. You do have a right, I believe, not to have your property searched and the right not to have slanderous or libel statements made about you. But privacy? Not so. That's why the paparazzi can exist without getting in trouble each and every day. That's why US Weekly and People haven't gone out of business. I'm not saying that what they do is right, but your commenter saying you're violating a law is right. Is it ethical? Well, that's up for grabs. I think that if you are being honest and true to yourself - while remaining respectful of her family, too - then I don't think it's a problem at all. Many people use social networks to grieve and get support. There's nothing unusual about that.
-
Permalink Reply by Heather on -
There was actually an article in the Washington Post about the incidents related to her death and her own. It's not like it's a secret the way she died, it's just the people that were with her prohibited her from getting any help. I don't know that if they had called 911 when they found out she was overdosing that it would've saved her but at least she would've had a chance. My original post about the situation was in August and then it came up again in December because one of the people that was with her was going to court.
-
Permalink Reply by Akirah on -
Sheesh! I've never dealt with this either. I mean, I try to use discretion in what I share on my blog, but at the end of the day, it's my blog. If blogging about grief helps you with the process, I see nothing wrong, as long as it's done tactfully. I suppose tact is a relative term, but still.
I think there are many aspects of blogging that non-bloggers just don't get.
-
Permalink Reply by Kendall on -
Only once have I had a friend who disagreed with my blogging, and they used the attention seeking accusation too. It helps that only a handful of people even know I blog and even fewer know the address. At the end of the day, I am the one who has to deal with any fallout my blog causes so unless I am talking about people I know in real life (which is rare) then I don't particularly care.
© 2012 Created by Lisa.
