The self-realisation that blogging is a non-combative, self-centred, and long distance sport, that is also an entirely domestic pursuit, came to me some time ago.
But the realisation that it can also be trans-domestic, antipodal, extra-local, and far reaching, was less obvious until other (more enlightened) commentators began to comment on this. Diaries after all are personal, or used to be until the dawning of the social media circus, or the jingling of a publishers purse.
A friend of mine from Liverpool, Andrew, once said that there are many people in Liverpool who want to be heard, who should never be heard. He was talking of the mouth on the move, the bellower on the bus, and the talker on the train. And anyone who knows Liverpool will know what he means. Why use actions when you can use words. And why not turn words into public events? It seems to me that the same applies to bloggers. Its hosting as hustings.
Blogging is a liberation of sorts. A drama even, where the blog is the stage and the words actors in some emerging drama.
There is humour, pathos, and tragedy
There is biography and autobiography
There is fact and fiction
There is truth and deception
There is the past, the present, the future
And in every tense resides tensions
Having grounded the blog as a domestic beast, it can also be feral. Violence from a bedroom, so to speak, where bloggers can hide behind their net curtains drinking Earl Grey tea, yet spitting, snarling, and confronting, their digital neighbours "over the fence".
But to be fair, there are plenty of bloggers out there who are well informed, well versed, and socially conscious, who conduct symphonies of words from orchestrations of polymathic verse and virtuoso personal ability.
I like to think I am in the informed category. Not perhaps a virtuoso, but what I write about is based upon personal experience and personal thoughts. I don’t try to hide behind a pseudo-name, and I do not write fiction. My identity is open for others to see. It appears in this blog, and I only ever add comments in my name when I occasionally post feedback on other peoples web sites. There re trails to my tales, but this is not true for everyone, as several high-profile court cases on internet trolling have revealed
In addition I mainly protect the identity of people and some organisations who I write about. On some occasions public figures and organisations are fair game, but not in all cases, when discretion is needed. When and who to name is a matter of taste and decency, if not, it can be regressive, cruel, tactless, or unnecessary.
If I have something to say, I will say it. I might not be right, but I will write.
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