To comment or not to comment
Tuesday, February 21, 2006 at 07:54AM I've been thinking a lot about blogging over the past few days in light of the recent controversy. I think many, if not most of us have. I have an opinion just like everyone else. I have thought about sharing it but when it comes right down to it, I have nothing new to add and what I would say has already been said much better than I can say it anyway.
I decided before I ever hit the publish button on my first post that I would never post anything that I would feel weird about were someone/anyone reading in my presence. My husband, my mom, my sons, my pastor, my friends. Most especially my Savior. I've thought a lot about why I blog and how I blog. I have some self-imposed guidelines, known only to me, that I have been able to stick to so far. Maybe I'll share them all someday.
If I am uncertain about a post, whether it be concerning appropriateness, clarity, or correctness, I save it as a draft and give it the three day rule. I've only needed to do this a couple of times and each time I decided not to publish.
Kim linked to a really good blogpost this morning. It's worth reading.
So here's the question for the day: Do you have any self-imposed guidelines that govern your blogging activities? If so, leave a note in the comments and I'll move them up here or blog about it and I'll link here.
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Carol says, "the main thing I ask myself is, "Is my heart right?" She has more words of wisdom in the comments.
Brand new blogger (yea!), Amy, at Ezekiel's Garden is careful about giving out too much personal information (good practice!) and she tries not to repeat a sentiment or idea unless it has been particularly meaningful to her. Go say "hi" to Amy and welcome her to the blogosphere--oh, and it's OK to repeat! :)
Reader Comments (4)
I think the main thing I ask myself is, "Is my heart right?" If the honest answer is 'no', that's something I have to examine and deal with before I post or comment. If the honest answer is 'yes' then I trust my words will reflect that. If someone misreads my tone, then that's another matter entirely and I have to start over with the heart question again.
I emphasize the word 'honest' because it's so easy to think we're doing things for the right reasons, but deep inside there's something ugly going on that we don't want to look at. It's a tough exercise and requires humility. I don't have it down pat yet.
Hard question, Kim. Thanks!
Thanks for that, Carol. You are a very big reason that I have been thinking this through. I really appreciate the care you take to examine your motives and choose your words. You've been a good example for me.
There is a sense in which we cannot be entirely responsible for how other people take our words, and yet I think we do have a responsibility to not only take care to communicate what we intend, but also to maintain godly relationships with others, even and especially if they have "read us wrong."
The good thing is that I have seen a lot of that, haven't you?
Although I only have 2 posts on my blog, my goals are to try to make sure my heart is right, that it glorifies my Lord, and that it doesn't share too much personal information about anyone, especially my family because my DH requests it and I agree with him.
As far as commenting, I try not to repeat a sentiment or idea, unless a blog has been particularly meaningful to me, in which case I will let the author know my appreciation.
Yes, I've been thinking the same thing. I've been thinking of writing out a "mission statement" for my blog--more for my own benefit that anyone else's. I might even post it, like you said. I want to have some specific guidelines regarding blogroll, handling conflict, etc. That way if I become emotional (unfortunately a likely occurrence!) I'll have something more concrete to go back to.
Excellent thoughts. Love the "three day" rule.