I received a comment on my ORA-600 blog today and since it was not related to the "ORA-600" topic, I decided to start a new blog to address the questions ...

New comment on your post #199 "FAQ: ORA-600 Causes" http://press.teleinteractive.net/yackity/2005/02/21/p199

Author: Allikat71121 (Allikat71121)
Comment:
Hello all- during one of my classes (Current Events) we were assigned to look up sites on the Internet which contain blog. Upon learning the popularity of these blogging sites i really have to ask what it is all about since i am somewhat new to this concept. If you put your personal thoughts on the web how do you maintain the privacy that all humans need? What happens when someone reads your blog and becomes offended? I guess i reall am clueless as to how this whole blogging thing works.

Allikat71121

First of all, I think it is nice that blogs are taught in Current Events. It shows that blogs affect everyone's current life.

I will address both questions as simply as possible.

Question 1: If you put your personal thoughts on the web how do you maintain the privacy that all humans need?
If one puts personal thoughts on a public blog, it is open to everybody. So, bloggers should be cognizant of that fact. However, most blog software permit for different access levels. For instance, TIAPress, our blog software uses b2evolution. It has the capability of having different access levels. So, in cases of personal and private blogs that we want only a certain group of people to read, our bloggers can make its status "Protected" which means only Members with permissions can get to these private/personal blogs.

Though most blogs are personal, not all of them are. Blog types include, though not limited to: personal journals (most popular form), editorial/opinion on current events, linkblogs (with or without opinions), political blogs, professional blogs giving expert opinion, product reviews, and external business blogs giving transparency into the business decisions and direction.

If it is a personal blog, bloggers who are concerned about privacy should remember to protect themselves. There are always the bad people out there in cyberspace. So, one should be careful. Don't just put your personal information out in the open.

Question 2: What happens when someone reads your blog and becomes offended?
As an analogy, I think of blogs like an online publication where one can have his/her own column. As in any journalist, there is always the concept of responsible journalism. Bloggers are responsible for what they write, just as a person is responsible for his actions. Anything can happen if one gets offended from someone's blog. There are always legal ramifications. So, one can get sued for libel or other things. In some cases, people lose their jobs for writing something that their company finds proprietary or "contains sensitive information". Or, if it is a personal blog, one can hurt the people they love or even lose friends over it.

Allikat71121, I hope I answered your questions. Thank you for visiting my blogs and putting a comment.

For readers who want to comment, please feel free... Maybe it will help Allikat71121 and her current events class....