One thing that the internet has taught me is to think before I hit any form of submit button. Be it a blog publish submit button, forum comment submit or any other place I may be posting my opinion. I do stand by everything that I have ever posted – you may like that or not that is up to you. I also think before and read everything twice (often a few more times) before I comment – believe me some unedited versions would make for a great bleeper reel.
In many ways I think that online has taught me what in life I always failed to do – often still fail to do. That was the whole elusive ‘thinking before you speak’. I have always had a slight lack of brain linking to mouth communication going on and sometimes my mouth just produces things that leave my brain banging it’s head on my skull in disbelief. I was of course the ‘par cark’ queen and one who never quite got what was the subtleness of ‘honesty’. Some of the finer qualities of democratic speech have and probably will always remain a great mystery to me.
I guess if I’d been born in a different time I’d have been called someone that ‘labels a spade a spade’. This has of course with age mellowed and less times I find myself pushing myself into various hot water through lack of brain / mouth relationships – it still happens but to lesser degrees of burning. With things online I forget the amount of times I’ve posted something in a text field then deleted or edited at the last minute just because I took a moment to pause – it’s saved me also many times in the past.
Online it’s a hard lesson you learn about pausing before you submit. It’s also a fine line between censoring the life out of something and speaking your mind and brain at the same time. You could list the times when people online have had a touch of foot in mouth, until the cows in every time zone come home and even the ones on mars. The line between that gentle voice censorship to stop insanity and censorship gone crazy with a bucket of PR and marketing on top, is a fine one that most bloggers tread as frequently as they post. Be true to yourself but also don’t be constantly removing your foot from your mouth.
I totally agree with you. Sometimes people don’t realize that comments can be linked back to you from a search engine (if you use your real name – a first name even).