Where do we draw the line?

(Disclaimer: This is more of a cautionary tale, not necessarily a reference to one specific incident. Some names and details have been changed in the interest of clarity. -MS)

I was chatting with a fellow blogger about something that happened on their blog recently. This person, like most of us, had a blog just to "get stuff out." You know, kind of a recording of the inner monologue, coupled with a personal journal.

This blog had been out for a while and had gathered a fairly loyal readership, if the comments were any indication. I had discussed the issue of a recent hiatus and I was told about some of the undercurrents of the blog. The emails. The back-channel comments, and sometimes, the obsessions. Turns out that there was a price to be paid for fame. By sharing some of the details of their life, this writer gathered a small legion of armchair shrinks and lovelorn correspondents. It got to the stage where the volume of personal correspondence was overwhelming and the blogger could have filled their days writing emails responding to these lengthy missives. Of course the more self-absorbed writers would take personal offense if they didn't get direct and personal replies and that sort of thing.

So let's step back for a moment. Whose blog is it anyway? Who is it being written for? At what stage do you know you've crossed the line from "favoured reading" to soap-opera obsession? Have blogs become the new soap operas? Is society faced with a new brand of obsessed stalker? Someone who can't draw the line between fantasy and reality? Should we believe everything we read online?

I gotta tell you, its scary. My friend was getting disturbed by some of the negative reaction. Forming some of these tenuous attachments to a neatly-arrayed display of electrons can't be healthy. It's not a person, and it may not even be the whole story. All the reader gets is what the blogger chooses to share. Any other assumptions are simply filled in by the reader.

Consider this: a blog is like TV. If you don't like what you're seeing, switch it off or change the channel. The "blog-caster" chooses the programming, and they should be free to do so. That's what the blog is all about. It's their choice. The reader needs to make their own choice too. They should be grateful that the blogger took the effort to actually post something, not resentful that they didn't meet your expectations of "quality and quantity."

I definitely won't discourage comments here and I am genuinely touched when people make a contribution, but I make no apologies for what I post if it winds up offending someone I don't even know. Granted, a personal attack is not fair game but these opinions and thoughts are mine. I wouldn't aim to please everyone, because as selfish as it sounds, the only one who needs to be satisfied with a blog is the author.

'nuff said.

Kudos to my friend for taking the straightaway approach. Post what you want, and do it with no regrets. You rock. :)