Blogging: truths, lies and being frivilous with words
This is a thought that led from a conversation with Kim on Saturday. I had said to her:
“Sometimes ppl take blogs too seriously.”
I uttered that when we were talking about the whole Daphne Teo thing. Basically, why all the fuss over someone closing down her blog? At the time I meant what I said but then after thinking about it, I also conclude that:
“Sometimes ppl are too frivilous with what they say on their blogs.”
How do these seemingly opposite thoughts consolidate?
I had been accused of the first when I joined in Peter Tan and Kimberlycun’s (the other Kim 
) email campaign to Xiaxue’s sponsors. Did I take it too seriously? Perhaps. But why? Because of the second reason.
Some ppl have this attitude that just because it’s a blog and it’s meant to be personal, that they can say the most outrageous or inflammatory things and expect to get away with it. I’m afraid that does not work in reality. If you say the words, you own the words and you can expect consequences from your words. Don’t whinge or attack the intent of irate readers like myself. You can say what you want and I can say what I want. Freedom of speech innit? Isn’t that your line of argument?
My point – use intelligence and courtesy on your blogs just as you would in “real life”.
Additional things that we in the blogosphere do not like are hypocrisy, lies and attempts to hide the truth. Look at what happened to Dawn Yang. And to a certain extent, Daphne Teo. The real reason why both women caused so much commotion was ppl finding out the truth about them.
Another example is when Kim sounded out her thoughts about a band claiming songs which are not theirs. You can see the latest flamings here. 
If you say something at first, ppl will take your word for it because that’s the only thing that we’ve got. And when you say something else later on that contradicts yourself, you can expect to be called on it.
This is why creating an alternate version of your reality is not a good idea. In this day and age, with everyone seemingly connected either virtually or in the flesh, you can expect the truth to come out sooner or later. Hide yourself and you can expect to be found, whether you like it or not. On the contrary, if you carry yourself truthfully and with dignity all the way, ppl will respect you for it.
Because trust once lost is hard to regain.
Seacrest out!
10 Responses to “Blogging: truths, lies and being frivilous with words”
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i stick by what i believe i once said. should i even re-post that entry? it’s nice to have ppl e-mailing me that they support me and they were “victimised.” anyway, we’re all just questioning. it’s just a matter of pushing that person into a corner. it’s been for far too long. female readers are especially affected. if there is proof.. it will prevail. i stick by my word holding no regrets having posted that. it’s just a matter of stating the obvious what nobody dared to state. slowly but surely, the truth will surface. that, you’re right. daphne teo or dawnyang…well at least we know they exist. these dudes? hmm..
No need to repost it. Or maybe you can just post a link to it and ask ppl to judge for themselves. Afterall you are merely stating facts. If the facts cause ppl to speculate unfavourably of the guys, then the burden is on the guys to clear the matter up. They should address the things that you’ve listed instead of going on personal rants against you which just makes them look worse.
nvm, I linked for you already.
Intelligent ppl can make up their own minds.
when you mentioned kim’s case, were you refering to her or the fake band as the one that is creating an alternate version of reality? it’s a bit confusing there hehe
anyway, i agree with u, she’s doing the right thing for stating the facts. as as usual, what we can see from the other side of the defence are personal insults (lowest of the low blows)….goes to show that they really dont have much to defend.
kimberly: the fake band of course.
And yup if they had addressed her concerns in point form or whatever, they would have come across as more believable. But they didn’t.
pardon me, but I don’t see why showing off/closing down your blog is considered hyprocrisy? and not putting a disclaimer on your pics that u had surgery is wrong?
singaporeans just like to gossip and blow the smallest things into big moral issues.
anonymous: It’s not hypocrisy in Dawn Yang or Daphne Teo’s case – it’s about ppl finding out the truth about them. I’m just saying that if you start off potraying yourself as one way and then ppl find out something contrary, it could be very difficult to extricate yourself.
I just lumped it all together as a list of “things not to do when blogging”.
It’s funny how we get all caught up in other’s blogs… the “blogger babes” always attract traffic and controversy… NY Times ran an article on MuMu and she is now the hottest blogger in the world… I have 3 posts about her on CRP… HI Kimberlycun! Leave more commments on my blog! I miss your acid remarks
aside to other blogders: Kim is so sweet, but I really pissed her off recently… nothing personal Kimmy! You’ll always be on my blogroll! (signed, your friend, the old-has-been-nobody)
“The real reason why both women caused so much commotion was ppl finding out the truth about them.”
‘The real reason why both women caused so much commotion was ppl’ being of minds superficial enough to get drawn in to something so trivial – unless it is purely for the sake of sociological interest. We must remember that the ‘commotion’ was regionally confined.
One could say that these two characters thrived on a popularity that could only be founded in an intellectually docile population and culture. I dare say, considering the culture from whence it emerged, it was to be expected and not a cause for raised eyebrows.
“My point – use intelligence and courtesy on your blogs just as you would in “real life”.”
Unfortunately, blogs, whilst holding the potential to assimilate people into a particular perspective or paradigm, is also a reflection of what people are in ‘real life’. We can say that blogs play a reinforcing and complementary role in tandem with the americanised/mechanised/adolescent experience of ‘real life’.
inquisitor: good points. And yes empty minds crave diversions, no matter how trivial.
Re: your point about blogs reflecting what the person is like in “real life” – in some instances I liken blogs to alcohol. Basically, as the saying goes: a drunk man speaks what a sober man thinks. Sometimes ppl are emboldened to say things on their blogs that they wouldn’t say in real life. They treat online discourses differently than those that they’d carry out in real life.