A Peck of Gold

Dissing the Disclaimer

I was blog browsing earlier, and came across this "Blogger's Disclaimer". Curious, I clicked on it just in case it was something I needed to have on my own site... (you guys know I like my bells and whistles!) and I was mildly offended after I finished reading it.

First, I think the language is rather hostile and arrogant. I think it separates, or maybe even elevates, the author of a blog from his or readers. I suppose that this could be necessary if you have a large reader audience, for privacy reasons. But, if the writer doesn't want people to contact him, he should leave off email addresses, instant messenger screennames, and personal details.

Another point was that if the author doesn't want you to read his thoughts, then you should stop visiting their site (i.e. if they are too personal, etc.) Bwahahaha - that gave me a good laugh! If you don't want others reading your personal thoughts, then you damn well shouldn't publish them on the internet. Write it down in your own journal, in invisible ink, and lock it up and hide it under your bed. Otherwise, the second you hit "enter", you broadcast those thoughts to your best friends, and your worst enemies. Don't post things that you don't want others to read. Always assume that the person you are writing about will be reading it immedietely. Mind your manners and if something you write is going to get you in trouble or expose you emotionally - maybe your blog is not the place to put it.

The disclaimer also mentions how uncouth it is to directly write the author of a blog for html or design help. Oh please. How superior is that? I have found that the vast majority of people on the net are incredibly friendly and willing to assist! I cannot think of a single instance of someone refusing help or brushing me off in the five years that I've been tinkering around with webpages and design. Now, I know that if I was to write the webmaster of CNN.com, he's obviously not got the time to help me individually. Yes, there are tutorials out there that you can use - but sometimes it takes personal feedback to grasp a certain concept. I know that if someone wrote to me and said, hey your blog looks great, can you give me some tips, I would be flattered, not irritated that my precious time was being wasted. If I really was too busy to adequetely help, I would refer them to a tutorial, but I wouldn't get mad about it.

I will agree with some of the other content of this page- about bandwidth theft, images and text copywriting, stalking, and constructive criticism, and the common sense stuff. All I'm saying is, don't get a big head about your blog. You began where everybody else did and if you start taking yourself too seriously, I'm outta there. I don't need to read another pretentious blog from a stranger who thinks he's better than all his readers.

So there.