Dipping into Becky's Pocket

I had a joy reading Rebecca Blood's article on Weblog Ethics. It's something I can relate to since I've been in the blogging shoes for a long time now. And as bloggers, updating our little playground is what we love to do. Sharing our experiences, our joy, our day to day incidents & others. I love blogs, it's nice way of knowing somebody even tho we don't know them personally outside the virtual world.

But my point is that bloggers often forget that w/ blog comes a great responsibility. As media students, we know that blogs are a new medium for non-journalists. Now everyone can be considered as a journalist - an amateur one that is.

Highlighting a few quotes from Rebecca herself which I agree 100% on!

"...individual webloggers seem almost proud of their amateur status. "We don't need no stinkin' fact checkers" seems to be the prevailing attitude, as if inaccuracy were a virtue."

"Let me propose a radical notion: The weblog's greatest strength — its uncensored, unmediated, uncontrolled voice — is also its greatest weakness."

"News organizations may someday be willing to point to weblogs (or weblog entries) as serious sources, but only if weblogs have, as a whole, demonstrated integrity in their information gathering and dissemination, and consistency in their online conduct."

That being said, Rebecca has listed down 6 suggestions bloggers should take into account to - Blog Responsibility 101. & since we're all on the blogsphere, it's only harmless to learn a thing or two. (:

Let's roll!

1) Honesty is indeed the best policy, ring any bells?

Being truthful in blogs is extremely vital. Of course we all love Chinese whispers but to simply blog them down w/o absolute good faith will only turn things into a nightmare. If you have a reason to not believe that A is the boyfriend to B but A is sleeping with C while B is having a fling w/ D which turns out to be A's best friend and C's ex, then don't post it out!

When you have a sinking feeling in your gut about smtg, don't put them out! You'll most likely get the story wrong & instead, you'll be the sensation overnight, for all the wrong reasons! *Gulps*

2) Reference an online source!

I love photoblogs! So let's say I've fallen in love w/ a particular work and I keep droning on and on about it yada yada. But what I can do is not just criticizing the photo but instead, I can provide a link. W/ this link, people can be the judge for themselves about the picture. They can see the extensive work, the big picture and come up w/ their own conclusions.

Pictures as links! Click click!

Not only that, networks can be established through links! Note, the blogroll function! Hence try to keep it a habit to post up not only selective links that may be deemed as manipulative, but share a variety of links to enable everyone's access into the large archive of the Internet!

3) Do your corrections!

No am not talking about those correction exercises we're forced to do back in primary years, but this is somewhere along the lines as to that. Clicking 'Publish Post' does not mean you're done for the day. Sometimes what we've reported might be untrue or inaccurate. Google stores just about everything, which means your misinformation blog post is up there too! So, it's only smart to correct our mistakes & move on. Help a friend out, you don't want wrong info do you? Especially in relation to references for assignments! Gasps!

For example:

The Taklamakan is a desert I've fallen in love with. Magnificently, it's covered with a thick blanket of sand snow!

4) Post it like you mean it!

Putting an effort in a post reflects your personality pretty much like how one drives a Ferrari will says a whole load about him. In this case, posting deliberately shows an investment of thoughts and professionalism. Hard work pays off! Think clearly before posting b/c as we know, communication is irreversible. If you're wrong about smtg despite your hard post effort, no matter, just make a reminder & learn from it.

Life's like this, no?  

C'est la vie.

5) Bloggers & readers works on trust.

The reason why you & I keep going back to a particular blog is not only b/c it's interesting, funny & quirky. But it's also b/c there's a certain trust in the system of both parties.

Rebecca's pocket gives an insight that bloggers should always inform the readers about any conflicts of interest. Say you're paid to review an album, well by all means, listen to the 12 track album, write a review but also disclose that monetary interests were involved. That way, you give the readers a hint so they can listen for themselves & decide on the verdict. Easy peasy!

6) "You're bias! No no! Shoo!"

We all blog mostly about things we share deep interests in. It can be politics, religion, countries etc. But when it comes to sensitive issues, we gotta be really, really, really sensitive about what we're posting up. The article you post up can be written by biased sources can lead to serious conflict. We as bloggers really need to note down in our blog the sources we attain info from. Some readers blindly read & digest everything even though at times the info is totally prejudiced! 

Irrelevant picture, but it's too cute not to share!

So, if you're sharing your opinion about Spongebob & his friends, please thread carefully. Hey, Spongebob can be a serious issue to some ya know! :P

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Personal Note:

We love blogging & we can't stress that point enough! But remember we're not the only ones reading it. Our posts concern of others as well so it's only fair that we express what we want to but in a light that keeps in mind of others as well. We're all in the same boat here, sharing the interest in blog hopping. (:

It's the weekend, enjoy your blog hopping!

Cheerios!