A Question For You
Thursday, August 25, 2011
So if you wrote a truthful post and someone asked you to remove it, how would you respond? Would you remove it or would you exercise your first amendment right and cling to one of the basic foundations of our constitution?
While I can understand, to a point, the request, I believe that my right to freedom of speech, as long as it's truthful, is undeniable. I did remove a follow up post because, truthfully, it was on the edge and I did remove a picture.
The subject of my post was un-named and unknown by all but a handful of people that have encountered the same situation of which I wrote.
So tell me, what would you do? Gucci, I expect a brilliant commentary from you.
Ok, one more hour and I'm off to the Redwoods. I hope to post pictures and tonight I have scheduled a past post that I find particularly funny. It also has to do with an un-named (does a hyphen go there?) subject that only a handful of local people will know.
See ya soon!
29 comments:
Hmmm...well, I'm stubborn. So I wouldn't do it unless *I* wanted to! Stick to your guns!
Legal rights and infringement on the boundaries of others are two different things. You can post anything you want and if it hurts someone's feelings, you have the right to keep it up or take it down. I believe you are really discussing an issue of personal choice as opposed to freedom of speech.
I wouldn't delete it. YOu have the right to post whatever you want.
Boy...this is the kind of question I struggle with all the time. 'Cause I have a big mouth and feel compelled to tell it like it is at all times. But I've learned, as I get older, that it's not always worth it. Sometimes you have to decide if this really is the hill you want to die on....
Its your blog. You can post and do with it what you want. Just tell them to DEAL WITH IT!!
While you are undeniably correct about the first amendament right to speech... you can write whatever you want, whenever you want and whyever you want.
In this scenario you described, I guess it would depend on if it was harmful, with malice intended... if it was threatening or degrading towards another person. It'll then become a matter of respect. It depends on how much you like and respect that person who is requesting you to remove it. If you don't give a whit, leave it. If you do have some semblance of caring about this person... I would consider removing it. Consider it long and hard... see what you come up with.
A 3rd layer to all this... yes, this can get complex and thats perfectly fine, however, I lost my train of thought so pfft. :)
It would really depend on the situation and/or what I actually wrote, but if I felt comfortable enough to write it in the first place then I wouldn't remove it. It would also depend on my relationship with the person who was asking. If I liked/loved/respected them, then I might consider removing it. but if they are not on my list, then all bets are off post stays.
This is always a difficult one for me. There are so many things I WANT to blog about, but that doesn't necessarily mean I SHOULD blog about them. Additionally, it depends on whether you're sharing information about a specific person in a way that could easily identify them to someone who knows them. I ask myself a few key questions before I post anything about another person. To name a couple of them... Even though it's true, is it my right to share this information? Is what I want to post going to be hurtful to someone else? Am I sharing personal business about someone else that's none of my business?
As an example, I would say, for instance, "There's a big difference in YOU blogging about you being bipolar compared to ME blogging about you being bipolar."
Does that help? I don't know if any of these scenarios were in play or not, so this just what I thought of when I read this post.
I have experienced this. I wrote a very honest and open post about a friend once... and everyone freaked out.
What I decided to do was remove that post - but I wrote another post about what happened.
At the end of the day - it is my right as well as your right to write and publish what you wish, as long as you are not "lying."
Maybe it's the journalist in me... but I believe you must live out loud. However.. you have to deal with the fall out. I choose to just deal with fall out.
I've been asked to take down posts before and there have been times I have and times I haven't.
When I have, it's because the person who asked was in some hot water and the things we'd written together and commented back and forth could have been (and I think were) fairly easily misconstrued and I didn't want to cause further turmoil in the situation, nor did I want the person affected to feel even more hurt.
But the situations when I haven't have been where someone was offended personally, morally or politically or whatever and my thought on that is "don't like it, don't look".
When I started doing HNT, for example, quite a few people were up in arms about seeing my stunning cleave (shocking, I know) and more than one person took me to task over it. One suggested I create a second blog so people who didn't want to see it "didn't have to".
Um?
No one *has* to read your blog or see your pictures.
It's not really a first amendment issue for me, it's an issue of sensitivity and discernment. If someone you love is hurt, affected, upset, etc. about a specific post and asks you to take it down, weigh that against why you needed to write it and share it with the world. Writing is, at its heart, a selfish act - as it should be - and so when this happens you have to decide what's more important? The feelings of someone important to you or the words clamoring to get out of your head and heart.
If it's someone you don't care about, someone who's not important, then I say remind that person that no one has the right not to be offended and then invite them to suck it.
Does that make sense?
Dear Gucci, I hope that you can live up to the high expectations that have been set forth for you. Diva has piqued my interest with what your insight may be. Love, candace
Um...that's a hard one, especially since this is your blog (emphasis on the YOUR). Expressing ourselves freely may cause conflict, but that is not indicative of one's right to control your expressive freedom. You've respected their opinion by removing a picture, and if in the future you change names to protect the guilty then you know, more power to you, but neither are mandatory.I imagine if someone posited the question of "well, how would you feel if it was you?" your response would be "It would suck, but I wouldn't make them take it down" or something along those lines and then behave appropriately to how you see the conflict affecting you. So, I will have that same response, it would suck, but I wouldn't take it down. If this conflict spilled over into other parts of my life with said person then we'd have to talk about it, but I don't know if I'd still take it down at that point either.
I hope you are having a great time in the redwoods! wear your sunscreen!
I'm curious. Which post was it? And I'm enough of a hard head that I wouldn't remove it just to be a pain. If it's true and they weren't identified, screw 'em.
Depends on the post, the people, the drama and most importantly my mood. However I usually stir on a subject before I will post about it which means if it made it to publication I have thought about it and it is staying put whether or not others like it. My blog, my rules. Don't like it, piss off.
i think it would depend on who was asking me & why. if it was a close friend or family member who i loved & respected, i'd be inclined to remove it just to keep the peace. if it was anyone else, i'd probably ignore the request or tell them to suck it if they brought it up again.
--If I did remove it, Diva,
it would need to be for a DAMN good reason. Seriously. On the other hand, if sombody put a bitch ass comment down, I'd print it. I'd be pissed about it...but yeah, I'd allow it on my page. Did somebody ask you to remove your post? Xx
i blog all the time about personal stuff...but noone really reads my blog lol...at any rate, i feel whatever you want to say, its YOUR blog, youre personal freedom and if the person your blogging about has a problem with it, then they should comment so we can all critque them here! ;) ok fine thats MY bipolar lol...but honestly its not really a matter of what they have to say, you are voicing your opinion to things, you have never (to me) been offensive or rude to anyone and if they think they are then too f*****g bad for them...but hey thats only my little opinion! i wouldnt remove the post, it truly is freedom of speech!!!
It would depend on who "someone" was and whether or not I like "someone"...
But you know it's just such moral dilemmas that led me to start my blog anonymously. If someone doesn't like what I write, well, that's tough shit for them b/c I didn't even use their name.
Well, I believe that by removing the post to appease someone else gives the other person the power over your right to free speech. I think that only YOU can make the decision whether or not to censor yourself in any way if at all. If it is indeed a strong belief in said subject then you should post it proudly and let others feel/think what they may as you are able to, especially since you understand it is a 'controversial' subject in which others may find offence. As long as you are ready to deal with any negative commentary as a result of making public your opinion, more power to you and support you have from this reader!
Well, its hard to say, not knowing the situation. I mean im stubborn as well, do what i want. But i also hate hurting other peoples feelings. I mean if i was hurting someone or the post was really going to affect someones life and they had a problem with it, i may remove it. But if its for another reason, and I really wanted to keep it there, i would. No one can tell you what to do. If they dont want to see it, dont look.
HUGS
http://thelattemommy.blogspot.com/
I guess it depends on who you're removing it for. If it's someone in your household and it's causing all kinds of grief, then just for peace, I would remove it. I would then block the person who complained about my post from my seeing my blog. I've done that on FB a few times already... people!
My take is this, I paid for MY web address decorated the page MY way and it is MY place. If you want to tell me what I can and cannot put up, even if your name is not directly mentioned and no one that reads me would know who the hell you are, I would say get your head out of your ass and stop giving yourself way more credit then you deserve. If you want to tell me what I can put on MY blog then I suggest you pay MY bill for the blog.
I think it would depend on the situation and the person asking to have it removed - whether or not I cared what they thought or felt.. ya know?
If I didn't care, I'd say fuck 'em :)
If there was a picture of someone's minor child and they asked it to be removed, I would (of course, in that instance, I probably would have asked before posting the picture).
But for words, truthful words? I would keep it up. Especially since you did not actually name the person.
Proof. Absolute proof that I have the most wonderful followers in the entire blogosphere. I value all of your opinions and you have given me much to think of. Here's what happened. Lady unknown to me somehow, probably through Happy Valley gossip, saw a post I did on an experience I had with another resident in the town. She, I have NO idea who she is, wanted me to remove the post. I didn't write it from ill will or maliciously. It was simply my experience with a rather bitter woman. She emailed me on the email I use for facebook so I know that one of my "friends" told her about it. Then she got all high and mighty with me. My take is that I write real life, I don't do fiction, I don't give out the real names of people and I don't post hate filled rants. I post my opinion. Gucci said it best when she said you don't have the right not to be offended. As far as I'm concerned if you don't like something I've written, click out. I'll try to answer all of you that I have email addresses for after this motorcycle trip. Love you guys!
If that is the case, then hell fuck no I might even repost it once a week just cuz
If it was a family member (my Son mostly) that asked me to delete it, then I'd probably consider it. Anyone else?? Pull up your big girl panties and deal with it. It's not like you've (not that I've ever seen anyway) named names and shit. People are so damn silly these days.
It's a damn blog entry, get over it. So I'm dying to know....did you delete it?
My problem comes from snoopy and easily hurt people. I have to remove things and make them private, and I mean really private, in order to write.
I do believe in the First Amendment. No matter what. If it hurts most people, I don't care. Just a small few might make me remove it.
Sorry if that makes no sense, but if it really hurts one of my kids, it has to go.
Hell no . . .
Ya know- I was threatened because of my 'Betrayal' pieces- Jerk wanted to sue me and have me charged with a crime- HA!- I wrote about my experiences, my hurt my sadness- all of it was true- no defamation, no slander- I did take them down for a few days, then thought 'What the hell?, this is my life'- and I put them back up- I mean if the truth slaps you in the face and it hurts- change your ways, or don't read my blog.....
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