Remember the time we used to blog in complete peace? How not every single person, dog, kid or guitar have an internet account? Remember Multiply, the site before Facebook? Oh my, how I long for those days.
Bloggers and writers are met with hate once in a while, the same way your words can heal or positively impact someone on the internet, it can also bring on the wrath of 'insulted' people...especially these days. Not to say that it didn't exist back then because it did.
I remember someone told me to 'stick to writing, your singing sucks and don't deny it because it is THE TRUTH' on Multiply when I tried to record my singing on sucky equipment (rewind 20 years before smartphone apps) and brazenly 'showcased' it to my 'friends' on the internet. I argued that it was not THE TRUTH because it was merely his OPINION (and he's entitled to it) not because I am the best singer in the entire Universe but I have been told that I don't croak. In fact, my voice's been used for stage projects where my body was rejected (My body was rejected because I auditioned for the role of Thumbelina with my 5'7" lanky body - why the heck did I even do it? Anyway, my voice was used instead and I took my 5'7" body back home to complain to my parents about how come I am not 5'3" - kidding) and I was accepted into bands. So, I argued.
And then there was a time when people liberally imposed their personal problems, after hunting me down, on comments sections with racially-laced tones...like, OMG, that really got me fuming mad...well, won't you?
Before this whole shipping phenomenon (no, it no longer just means sending something via courier because you bought something on the internet, folks - click on the Wiki link above to find out more and don't blame me if you end up shaking your head) became the norm and the source of fights and fanfics, I was also taught a lesson about liking couples together and misconstruing signals sent by actors, actresses and singers that we see in dramas. Online. Via the great ole Internet. Comments section burned....Oh God...lol
As long as you are producing something on the Internet, we must be ready for hate. If it was THAT bad back then, imagine what it can be like today! Heck, you don't have to imagine, just hit any single POSITIVE Youtube video and just go to the comments section - no matter how positive or funny the content is, there's going to be someone who is insulted.
Writer, Abheek Talukdar wrote something completely funny about being prepared to be misunderstood if you are going to be writing on the Internet but he wrote it using Medium.com so, we can't access it (er....there are ways to read it) because Malaysia banned Medium.com (stupid) due to it being a platform for political sabotage (lol, they banned the entire site because of one user - ahem, Sarawak Report, I am looking at you). I am linking it anyway, just in case you CAN access the site and is looking for something you can relate to as a writer or content provider on the WWW.
Free press, FTW. And if you've been writing or blogging as long as I have and continue to do so today, high five!
Happy Saturday, people of the World,
Marsha
Bloggers and writers are met with hate once in a while, the same way your words can heal or positively impact someone on the internet, it can also bring on the wrath of 'insulted' people...especially these days. Not to say that it didn't exist back then because it did.
I remember someone told me to 'stick to writing, your singing sucks and don't deny it because it is THE TRUTH' on Multiply when I tried to record my singing on sucky equipment (rewind 20 years before smartphone apps) and brazenly 'showcased' it to my 'friends' on the internet. I argued that it was not THE TRUTH because it was merely his OPINION (and he's entitled to it) not because I am the best singer in the entire Universe but I have been told that I don't croak. In fact, my voice's been used for stage projects where my body was rejected (My body was rejected because I auditioned for the role of Thumbelina with my 5'7" lanky body - why the heck did I even do it? Anyway, my voice was used instead and I took my 5'7" body back home to complain to my parents about how come I am not 5'3" - kidding) and I was accepted into bands. So, I argued.
And then there was a time when people liberally imposed their personal problems, after hunting me down, on comments sections with racially-laced tones...like, OMG, that really got me fuming mad...well, won't you?
Before this whole shipping phenomenon (no, it no longer just means sending something via courier because you bought something on the internet, folks - click on the Wiki link above to find out more and don't blame me if you end up shaking your head) became the norm and the source of fights and fanfics, I was also taught a lesson about liking couples together and misconstruing signals sent by actors, actresses and singers that we see in dramas. Online. Via the great ole Internet. Comments section burned....Oh God...lol
As long as you are producing something on the Internet, we must be ready for hate. If it was THAT bad back then, imagine what it can be like today! Heck, you don't have to imagine, just hit any single POSITIVE Youtube video and just go to the comments section - no matter how positive or funny the content is, there's going to be someone who is insulted.
Writer, Abheek Talukdar wrote something completely funny about being prepared to be misunderstood if you are going to be writing on the Internet but he wrote it using Medium.com so, we can't access it (er....there are ways to read it) because Malaysia banned Medium.com (stupid) due to it being a platform for political sabotage (lol, they banned the entire site because of one user - ahem, Sarawak Report, I am looking at you). I am linking it anyway, just in case you CAN access the site and is looking for something you can relate to as a writer or content provider on the WWW.
Free press, FTW. And if you've been writing or blogging as long as I have and continue to do so today, high five!
Happy Saturday, people of the World,
Marsha
Image Credit : iStockPhoto Facepalm picture
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