Now you've criticised me, and I think it's my turn to criticise you.
To the anons using this blog to blow up issues that could've been solved with a bit of communication and far less damage than exposing it on the blog: I may be responsible for posting your submissions, but you are responsible for writing them. You should be perfectly aware that I am very likely to publish your submissions, that they will be made public and your words could potentially have a wide reaching impact that hurts others. I do some editing and censoring, but don't take that for granted. When your words cause damage, I take the blame for it and I accept that some of that blame is mine to take, but most of the blame should be on the person who decided to write the words and submit it to a blog where it most likely will be published for a wide audience. This blog should be the last resort, when you've tried everything else without success. Have you tried to talk to someone about your issue? If not, start with that.
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To the readers who read this blog and take these words and pass them forward as truth: this is a blog of opinions and expressing concerns and personal experiences, it is NOT a reliable source nor is it a database of facts. Never, EVER, mistake opinion for fact. Always consider that people will view things differently and one person's experience of something might be very different from that of someone else. Neither person's experience is wrong or untrue, but you can not base your judgement on one person's account alone.
One side of a story does not give the whole picture. I try to be clear with that when I share sides, there are always another side to the story and you always have to consider that the side you're hearing might not accurately reflect the situation at large.
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To the leaders who make decisions based on accounts from this blog: same as the above, don't EVER make a judgement and decision based on only one side of a story. Yes, take the concerns seriously, but don't take one person's account for truth and always do your own due diligence. Look into the matter, get a few different opinions and try to get the whole picture before you make a decision that could unfairly punish or hurt someone.
This should all be common sense, but apparently it's not. This blog, and the people who contribute to it (including me) may not be reliable sources. Information doesn't necessarily equal fact and truth.
Opinions are opinions and should never be considered fact, unless it's backed up by reliable sources.
If I want to present something as fact I try to back it up with sources, and if I'm not providing sources it's not meant to be read as fact - it's an opinion, personal thought or experience that might differ from yours.
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And lastly, to the critics: would you have done it better than I have? Your immediate response is probably "of course, I'd never make the same mistakes" or "I'd never do X/Y/Z" and different actions would obviously lead to different results. Less damaging but also less effective overall. It's a pretty basic media and marketing strategy: make content that creates an emotional response. Whether that be joy, sadness, anger or comfort, if it doesn't spark some sort of emotion in a reader you will lose their attention in to time at all. Receiving an emotional rant of criticism only confirms to me that my strategy is working.
And when you criticise me for what I publish, keep in mind that I only write half the content here. Most of the content in the last few months has been submissions from other people. I can't control what people submit, and as a rule I try to publish everything with minimal editing/censoring. I can't provide balanced content when I only receive a small sample of opinions, all I can do is to remind my readers that opinions are opinions and what one person says/claims might not be an accurate representation of the situation as a whole. If you want to balance out the negative content about something, provide the content that counterbalances it. If I get both sides of a story, I will publish both sides - I always have. I just can't publish content that I don't have.
2024-05-29: minor edits made















