“Opinions are free. Opinions enlighten. Opinions are dangerous” *…
In today’s world of hyper-connectivity and 24-hour wall-to-wall event coverage (that helpfully keeps us abreast of even the most mundane happenings), it is perhaps hardly a surprise that myriad swathes of commentators are poised, on hand to give us their ‘tuppence-worth’; their unique perspective on (please insert any type of occurrence), as and when it happens. Our ability to access technology that allows us to efficiently and rapidly distribute our opinion gave rise to a form of people power/participation in the media that hitherto did not exist, save for the readers’ letters page in a newspaper, oft the favoured platform of the slightly unhinged. Step forward into the brink and the brave new (-ish) world – the blogger.
Aware as I am that an attempt to critique the existence and validity of the blogger whilst writing for a blog may be perceived as some new ‘zenith of pretentiousness’, I plead for you to hear me out. I believe in discussion, debate and the exchange of ideas however the information many people receive and accept originates from sources that have no remit to ensure accuracy, truth or quality. This is turn leads to people being influenced in their beliefs by essentially uncorroborated hearsay, in extreme cases. The danger is that, with so many people being able to circulate ideas freely and easily, it can lead to people being misled.
This is nothing new, I hear you cry. People have attempted to influence or manipulate others into believing unsubstantiated ideas since the beginning of humanity. This may be correct. Yet I feel many bloggers today sometimes unfairly use their access, distribution, influence and reach to promote defamatory stories that can have ramifications on an individual level. They no longer fit the remit of informing, they merely bully. This makes me sad.
Disclaimer: This blog cites no examples; it wishes you to think of your own.
This blog expressly wishes to state this is just a thought, and that no one was hurt in the making of this thought. Especially not any bloggers.
This blog hopes you consider information presented to you on merit, consider source, authority and accuracy – and it knows you probably already do.
This blog likes the absurdity of a blog criticising the concept of blogging – what a fiend!
* – this quote was made-up by me as I started to write this, many apologies.
Fits quite well though, mind.
[Blog I wrote, can be found at www.pavelware.com]
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