I’m finding a blog disclaimer to be more and more necessary. There is no one correct definition for what a blog should be. Fundamentally, a blog is simply a web page of a series of time delimited posts. Beyond that, it can be whatever the author wants it to be and no one should impose their definition of what a blog is on others. Here are some guidelines for the context in which you should read this blog.
1) This blog should not be approached in the same way one would an academic paper or even a newspaper op-ed column. It can be at times, a well researched or well thought out editorial piece. At other times, it is nothing more than a stream of consciousness piece with ideas and thoughts that can be potentially offensive if taken out of context or misunderstood as something more meaningful than it really is. Here is an example. I am not equating my blog with the Bible but perhaps it can be a useful analogy. Often times people criticize the Bible for being self-contradictory or not explaining God’s will in as much detail as they would like. However, they forget that the Scriptures, though fully inspired by God, were written by dozens of different authors, over thousands of years, in different cultural contexts and most importantly, comprise a wide variety of literary forms. Some “books” of the Bible are historical literature, some are songs, some are personal letters, etc… It would be illogical to approach the whole of the Bible in the same manner. In the same way, do not assume that all of my blog posts should be read the same way.
2) Do not assume that you know me or what kind of person I am. The things I post on this site are a small piece of who I am. Most people who know me will tell you that, in person, I am not the person they expected me to be just from reading my blog. That is not an inconsistency; the things I write about on my blog are still part of me but do not represent the entirety of who I am.
3) This blog is completely under my domain. I do not have the responsibility to respond to you just as I do not expect people to commit to reading my blog. I will mostly likely respond to both positive and negative comments as long as they are respectful. I will probably not respond to belligerent contrarianism.
4) Don’t take things I say personally. I have strong opinions. I love a lot of things. I hate a lot of things. Just because I don’t like your jeans doesn’t mean I dislike you as a person.
5) I am not a people pleaser. I do things and say things because I believe they are right. I do not do things and say things just to make other people happy. For many people, that goes against the societal rules they were taught. This does not mean I am not a compassionate or considerate person. I just don’t believe my life and behavior should be determined by what other people consider to be acceptable.
This may seem like a cop-out from having to deal with the social norms of reality. Or you may consider these “guidelines” to be completely unfair and take away any reason for reading blogs. I would obviously disagree but you are entitled to your opinion. Therefore, if you feel this way or if you can’t accept it for some other reason, perhaps it would be the best for you to not read it. I will not be offended or think any less of you; in fact, if my blog is a stumbling block for any relationship we might have, it would be a gracious and welcome gesture for you to refrain from reading my blog. If you have any questions, problems, concerns with what I have to say, please do not hesitate to contact me directly and we’ll talk about it.
In the end, I don’t believe in online relationships. It would be extremely dangerous for your only impression of me to be my blog. People who know me from having a real in-person relationship with me have a more complete understanding of who I am. That is the only context in which I would like to have committed relationships. This does not mean I don’t believe in having surface-level or “aquaintance” type relationships; let’s just be clear that that’s what we have.
Thanks for taking the time to read this blog disclaimer. These are mostly my ideas but also inspired by other blog disclaimers.