All About Blog

Blogs. And more blogs. They seem to be popping up everywhere. You can learn about everything from what your local senator did on that so-called vacation to why vitamins may or may not be bad for you. I enjoy the blogs where people talk about their books, why they started to write, why they love it. And I've found some really great books this way.
I also love to visit authors' bloga nad learn what they think about things. Not just their plots and characters, but how they look at life.
Blogs can be very informative.
But sometimes, they can be very mean, and I think that's a terrible misuse of public space.
This weekend I cruised past a blog to see what everyone on the loops was talking about, and Oh! My! God! From a simple anouncement that was no more than a minor news item, more than 200 of the nastiests posts I've ever seen were generated. People said things in public I'm not sure they should even say in private. They bashed others in a way that goes well beyond flaming. And to what purpose?
The few people doing most of the commenting seem to have an axe to grind and they were determined to grind it to death. These are authors who have enjoyed some mild success and feel they need to throw dirt on the roots of their career. They even went so far as to attack someone's personal life. And for what? What exactly did they get out of it?
My grandmother always told me "Be careful who you step on when you;re on the way up. They're the ones who'll catch you when you fall." Someone should have told that to these women, because maybe their new colleagues might wonder if they're next on the chopping block..
The worst part is, this is a very public forum. People will read these comments and take some of them as gospel. I was happy to see many others jump in to refute what was said, but the damage is done. You can't take back words once they're out there in cyberspace.
This blog will be around for a very long time, and people will be reading it as long as the link is there. You never know whose eyes will see what you wrote. It could be the publisher you;ve just submitted to. The agent you want to represent you. Or your current publisher who holds your fate in their hands.
If youl;re unhappy professionally, handle it in a professional manner. If you want to gripe about something, like the price of postage, the economy, or the abundance of alpha males,. have at it. Be sure your blog is entertaining and informative. Or at least entertaining! LOL! But don't use a privilege you've been given to throw dirt on some one or some thing.
Remember, whatever you write, people will remember, and memories can be very long. so think about what impression you want to leave with people.
Okay. Soapbox put away for the day.