EN-Some thoughts on blogging

A log kept publicly on the World Wide Web is just this – a private journal for somebody to express his/her thoughts, feelings and ideas, using this excellent medium that is the internet. And because the internet is by definition a networking tool, blogs may or may not allow comments by people surfing on the net.

This however does not mean that a blog is a dustbin or a trashcan. A blog is more like a house to which access is only allowed to the owner and to which (s)he may or may not accept guests and friends.

We all have mailboxes at the entrance of our homes. We receive our personal correspondence and bills as well as publicity leaflets, announcements, information packages from our local church or town hall, even hate mail. Some we keep in our drawers but most we throw away to recycling. Some we do not even open – they go directly to the recycling bin in the same way spam is automatically deleted from our electronic inbox.

This has nothing to do with democracy or human rights. It has nothing to do with censorship or fascism. Unless the author is a public figure who wants to open up a dialogue and wants all the opinions to be heard, a normal blogger is a private person, who sets up a small one-room cabin in the internet woods and cooks some intellectual meal from time to time. (S)he is kind enough to share this food with others and receive some letters, ads or other written contributions. But (s)he has the right to keep this data online or sent them to the trash bin as (s)he likes. Even public personas who start being the target of spam and irrational comments, have the right to either delete them or not accept them in the first place.

The blog owner is the only one who can decide if (s)he is keeping people out (disabling comments) or that (s)he needs to approve written contributions before publication (moderation). But above all (s)he has the fundamental right to delete whatever (s)he does not like. And this is a very good form of democracy – believe me!