Catherine

Freedom of Speech and Censorship

As someone who respects freedom of speech, I’ve had to question what it really means when posting online blogs. Does it mean that it’s okay to trash the reputation of others or poke fun at people we don’t really like? Or is it meant to be used constructively, as a way to bring something positive to the conversation?

What I believe is that I (can’t speak for “we”) have an obligation to abide by the unwritten rules of common decency and respect.

Online blogs are a way to freely express ourselves, and show others what we are all about. When it turns ugly … insulting to the point of being dangerous … I can, for the most part, ignore what is going on around me and walk away.

Let’s face it, confrontations are uncomfortable. Online confrontations are impossible because what we read in a blog or in a comment box is interpreted in our own voice. We cannot hear the tone of the writer’s voice, and oftentimes what is written can be misinterpreted by a reader. Other times, it’s pretty darn clear what the writer was hoping to accomplish.

I’ve seen written blogs and/or comments where the obvious was just that – quite obvious. There are those who post under the guise of “freedom of speech” to publicly offend or humiliate another person. That, my friend, is a form of bullying and it hurts.

Recently, I was censored for something I wrote on a social networking site that begins with “T” and ends with “er.” I expressed my own personal feeling about a situation that has been prevalent in the news. The site took exception to what I posted and shut down my account until I deleted my tweet, which I did under protest.

The situation angered me. Infuriated me. Pissed me off to the point that I deleted everything in my account and tried to move one. Sadly, moving on isn’t always the solution.

The social networking site doesn’t care if I’m there or not. Their rules, I know, but I’ve seen far worse than what I posted yet far worse is allowed to stay.

The solution is quite simple: Use this website – my personal site – for what is was originally intended. Write what I feel like writing without the fear of being censored.

So, that’s exactly what I’m going to do. I can abide by the rules of the social networking site that begins with “T” and ends with “er,” and still enjoy the company of a few friends I’ve met along the way while writing here without the fear of censorship.

After all, I am paying for it.

4 + 20
by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young

Cyber Court Is Just A Myth

Yesterday, while having a cyber conversation with my computer, it seemed like the appropriate time to clean out a few blogs. I’ve been hanging on to them for evidence just in case we end up in cyber court.

The truth of the matter is that some files are no longer necessary and a few files have been stored elsewhere.

“Did she say cyber court?”

“Silly computer, there is no such thing as cyber court.”

However, I did a massive purge of blogs, blogs with comments, links to hate-fest blogs, etc. Let’s just call it a computer high colonic and leave it at that.

No doubt, the online holier than thou bullies have saved everything said or done all in the name of being assholes, but that’s OK with me.

You see, I no longer care. My computer no longer cares. Life no longer cares.

Now, I have time to write letters to the banes of my existence – aka the HOA, AT&T, Medicare, and Congress – while looking for a new place to live (maybe).

“Simmer down, computer, simmer down. I will be taking you with me.”

“Thank you, Cath. I would be very sad if you dismantled me, smashed my hard drive, and buried me in some dumpster on the other side of town.”

As if that would ever happen … 😎

Route 66
by The Manhattan Transfer

I Am

I am …
the scientist
the composer
the philanthropist
the writer
the pioneer
the artist
the musician
the little old man who lives down the street
the English professor who dances to her own beat
the valedictorian
the last to graduate in your class
the social outcast
the peace organizer
the columnist
the inventor
the average taxpayer
the waiter
the farmer
the builder
the rancher
the creative soul

I represent all colors and creeds
I speak every language
I am no one
I am everyone
I make this world a better place without your permission

I am America!

God Bless The Child
by Al Jarreau, Jill Scott, and George Benson

A Conversation With My Computer

“Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day;
teach that person to use the Internet and
they won’t bother you for weeks.”
~Author Unknown

I don’t know how to make this work, this online world of chit and chat.

You see, my cocktail party days are over – those days when I was very good at making small talk with men and women who wanted to talk about themselves, and where they would winter or summer that year.

Now, I want more than little conversations about silly things that I don’t understand, and not because silly things don’t have their place – because they do – it’s because I am an adult who longs for adult conversations. I stink at cute talk, although I will never tire of sending messages of hope and love and peace.

There should be so much more than what this is, or so it seems, or perhaps it’s just me, and somewhere along the way I lost my ability to fit in as I never was very good at going with the flow or keeping it simple or “it’s only online chat.” You know – that kind of stuff – because I do believe it matters, but there are those who make it way too hard to care, and those who applaud their bad behavior.

Perhaps I want to believe that everyone is real and good and fair, and I feel let down when the truth isn’t always what it seems. I hurt too easily. It’s not fair.

At the end of day, when I turn you off, dear computer, those who mean something to me are on one side while I am on the other side until we meet again, if we meet again, because you never know who will be here in the morning.

“Are you certain that you want to turn off your computer?”

“Yes.”

Long Ago and Far Away
by James Taylor

Online Trackers

There are sites that allow Twitter users to track those who follow and unfollow you. This is one such site:

Welcome to fllwrs, the Twitter follower tracker.
Would you like to see a record of who follows and unfollows you every day?
Would you like to get notified when someone unfollows you?
Use fllwrs to monitor changes in your Twitter followers over time and keep a history of followers that have been lost or added.

I do not subscribe to these tracking apps on Twitter. The government is doing enough to track our every move, thank you very much.

Anyway, the fllwrs tracking app reminded me of a situation many years ago on a site called Multiply. At the time, someone who did not like me embedded a tracking device on my account and the account of someone with whom I was about to have a seven year relationship.

That’s another story, but here is the post.

Is This Cyber Stalking?

Anyone who secretly embeds an invisible tracking counter on another person’s blog is doing so to track that person and anyone else who visits said blog.

Embedded codes, created by others, can be placed anywhere: in a comment on a blog or a note or a video or a photo … even the guestbook.

It is quite common for individuals and businesses to install stat counters on their own blogs or websites, for a variety of reasons, and it is perfectly legal to do so.

Where I would have to question the legality of a stat counter is if someone secretly posted such counter on my site in an attempt to monitor the activity taking place on my blog.

Is it legal to secretly track the activities of other people who are totally unaware that such a counter has been embedded on their personal blog? I don’t know.

However, in my humble opinion, this is a form of stalking. It is a terrible invasion of privacy. It is abusive. It could be illegal.

That’s it. That’s the post. The way I felt back then is pretty much the way I feel today.

Author: Catherine