Tuesday, February 17, 2004
Blog Ettiquette
From New York Magazine. Okay folks, you can tell me the truth...(although the bonus with the Buzz is that we *all* post!).
Q: My friend just started a blog and e-mails me—and countless others—whenever it’s updated. The problem is, it’s just plain embarrassing, filled with wide-eyed accounts of the parties he crashed (“Bret Easton Ellis was there!”) and long ruminations on Howard Dean and cherished old Sigue Sigue Sputnik records. The other day, he even wrote (without asking) about a conversation we had about Cold Mountain! The guy’s cool in person, but on his blog, he comes across as someone I’d rather not be linked to. Now he wants to know what I think of the thing. What do I say?
—BLOGGED DOWN, LOWER EAST SIDE
A: Rousseau’s friends probably never had to deal with this, did they? It’s often startling to find that someone’s prose doesn’t square with your perception of his personality. But while “The Ethicist” would no doubt find this advice deeply suspect, just white-lie already! If your friend were showing you a book proposal, a cover letter, or a screenplay, it might be a different story, but he’s merely engaging in a more or less harmless pastime—verbal knitting!—that seems to be giving him some pleasure. And you’d never tell a friend, “You can’t make a scarf to save your life.” There’s no need to say the blog’s great, but you can say, “I think it’s great you’re doing it,” then pick out one thing from the last 457-odd entries that you don’t have to feel like a total hypocrite for praising. That said, you’re well within your rights to distance yourself from his online operation by explaining that you’re kind of shy about seeing your take on Renée Zellweger disseminated on the Web (he’ll be flattered that you’re thinking of his blog—which, let’s face it, is probably read by no one—as such a public forum). In the meantime, consider this: Perhaps your embarrassment for him masks your regret that you aren’t ballsy enough to put all your opinions online (though there’s nothing wrong with feeling morally superior because you don’t).
From New York Magazine. Okay folks, you can tell me the truth...(although the bonus with the Buzz is that we *all* post!).
Q: My friend just started a blog and e-mails me—and countless others—whenever it’s updated. The problem is, it’s just plain embarrassing, filled with wide-eyed accounts of the parties he crashed (“Bret Easton Ellis was there!”) and long ruminations on Howard Dean and cherished old Sigue Sigue Sputnik records. The other day, he even wrote (without asking) about a conversation we had about Cold Mountain! The guy’s cool in person, but on his blog, he comes across as someone I’d rather not be linked to. Now he wants to know what I think of the thing. What do I say?
—BLOGGED DOWN, LOWER EAST SIDE
A: Rousseau’s friends probably never had to deal with this, did they? It’s often startling to find that someone’s prose doesn’t square with your perception of his personality. But while “The Ethicist” would no doubt find this advice deeply suspect, just white-lie already! If your friend were showing you a book proposal, a cover letter, or a screenplay, it might be a different story, but he’s merely engaging in a more or less harmless pastime—verbal knitting!—that seems to be giving him some pleasure. And you’d never tell a friend, “You can’t make a scarf to save your life.” There’s no need to say the blog’s great, but you can say, “I think it’s great you’re doing it,” then pick out one thing from the last 457-odd entries that you don’t have to feel like a total hypocrite for praising. That said, you’re well within your rights to distance yourself from his online operation by explaining that you’re kind of shy about seeing your take on Renée Zellweger disseminated on the Web (he’ll be flattered that you’re thinking of his blog—which, let’s face it, is probably read by no one—as such a public forum). In the meantime, consider this: Perhaps your embarrassment for him masks your regret that you aren’t ballsy enough to put all your opinions online (though there’s nothing wrong with feeling morally superior because you don’t).
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