This week a blogger I follow revealed that she has remarried after the death of her husband. She is twenty-five years old with five small children. And, you would’ve thought she had committed a horrendous crime. The comments began pouring in, from people who don’t know her and didn’t know the husband that she had devoted her love and care to during their tragically short life together. Complete strangers felt the need to berate her as a mother and a human being simply for falling in love again and devoting herself to another man.
Anytime some kind soul jumped on there to defend her, the criticizers all answered the same way: if she doesn’t want our opinion on it, she shouldn’t be a blogger.
For some reason, the world at large seems to believe that if you are a blogger then you are fair game as a punching bag for total strangers.
I have had some horrible comments hurled in my direction through the years. Some people even take the time to email me privately to cuss at me. Just tonight I came home from church and had a comment from someone on an old post that she must have run across. It was about Christmas cards. And, she told me that I sounded selfish. I’ve had much worse things said to me, but it was a painful barb for some reason. I think it’s because, who really gets mad at a total stranger over Christmas cards? And, why did she feel the need to tell me so?
Oh, it’s because I’m a blogger, and if I don’t want to be abused then I shouldn’t blog.
I just wish that we would all take a moment to remember that bloggers are people, too. We have real families, tiring days, weaknesses of all kinds. Blogging is meant to be an exchange of ideas, not just a place that you set up on the internet so mean people can come and beat you up there.
It’s always a good idea to think of human beings as human beings. Even if they do write blogs.
