I've never hesitated before whenever I blog. I started writing and blogging since the dawn of the internet but I feel a kind of restraint now. Like I have to be more careful about what I write about, how I use language, and sometimes, I write and delete, write and delete, write again and delete again.
It makes me, as a first-generation blogger, really kind of sad about how blogging has become a thing to be feared. Because people judge you, make fun of you, or even use it against you. In this new internet world that we live in today, things are so different.
We used to make genuine friends over the internet. I found support as a mom online on various platforms and I didn't even care to hide my name or pictures of my kids. Nowadays, when you're transparent, you're opening yourself up for attack.
Last year, it was used against me at work. I hardly write about work and I don't whine much except for reviews. And yet, they found something negative out of a relatively positive post.
Even Instagram and Facebook is used against people in real life.
I've always viewed Instagram and Facebook as my online diary and a platform where I share my life, experiences, and maybe even advice for people who are going through the same thing I am, or offer some comfort to others who are going through tough times.
I've said time and time again that I will continue writing as long as there is a possibility that whatever I write is going to change someone's life or if my experiences can reach one single person in this whole wide world. That's enough for me because I am not an influencer.
I lived in a world where resources were scarce and we had to help each other either by helping out or doing things for free. Yup, there were times when we supported each other for no other reason other than for the fact that we wanted to and no one would judge us. Life on the internet was so much more fun then.
In this new world that we live in, before we do anything online, we have to think it through and through again. Everything is written and placed in the draft folder. I take my time to think about it, rearrange stuff, edit, and rewrite it before publishing anything.
Even after publishing something, I continue to think about it - whether it would offend people, make people think something about me and my family, if people even cared, and if they cared, why...the likes.
Personally, I feel that in order to keep our space on the internet, we have become more skilled at protecting ourselves from hurtful people and have thicker skin. Not everyone will agree with us, of course, we know that. But we also need to know how to stand up for ourselves when it is called for. Nicely, politely, and politically correctly.
Flame wars are things of the past for me. There's no point in arguing with people on the internet because at the end of the day, you know they don't know you at all for the real person that you are.
People will take whatever they can or want to at face value, based on just a glance. Netizens no longer care about being responsible about their actions online. They care less and don't see the real people behind the profiles and posts anymore.
That's kind of sad.
I hope things will change, if not during my lifetime, in the near future. Where people on the internet see each other as real people with real lives and real emotions and feelings. Even when we don't share the same beliefs, culture, language, or religion, we can agree to be amicable with each other.
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