Discussions
Does your blog offend?
Posted by brianomaracroft • 12 days ago • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: appropriateness, blogs, provocative, sensitive, sex
As I write my blog, I constantly struggle with the question, "Am I crossing a line too much?" I try to be deliberately provocative, because that's my nature, but I sometimes wonder if writing about bats performing oral sex, people having unfortunate incidents with glue and their genitals and such is pushing the boundaries too much.
How do you decide whether something is just too much for public consumption?
User Comments
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I wish. Blogs that offend people are the most popular-
I'm just afraid that some of the people who enjoy some of the humor that is more "gentle" may be scared away if things get too racy. Having said that, I find it difficult to filter my content on this basis.
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'gentle' humor is no fun. And you shouldn't change your writing style to suit an audience.
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You're right, I think, about not letting your audience dictate your content. But I do think sometimes content can be funny without being too base or crass. I worry that my content tends to be schizophrenic...one minute I'm talking about my early childhood...the next I'm talking about sucking toes.
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you sucked toes during early childhood. Makes sense to me ;p
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There you go...and everyone's happy!
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especially the person who's toes are in your mouth
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That's a matter of perspective. I like to think of it as a win-win.
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"How do you decide whether something is just too much for public consumption?"
When it is true.-
Are you suggesting that blog content should be fabricated, or else it's too personal to share?
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I think he means that telling people the truth is often inflammatory. It reminds me of a thread I started recently... -
I am suggesting that practically anything you post has the potential to offend at least somebody out there. And people usually express that the truth hurts them most.
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I try to address those things that people may think about, but are hesitant to talk about...like farting in prose.
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morgantj--okay...not unlike some of the threads in here. If you speak ill of marriage, faith, gender and such, some will applaud you and others will pillory you. It just depends who reads what you're writing.
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I offend people here in Iron City but not world wide. I write the truth about city problems I feel everyone needs to know about and then I get hateful comments from a few of the people around here. I never put innocent peoples names in my writing just the people that have offended. I can never write about sex, or anything like that because i live in the Bible Belt. It is frowned on here to hold any ones hand out in public.-
I'm perplexed. Where in the Bible Belt is holding hands frowned upon? Also, isn't Pittsburgh the Iron City?
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No I live in Iron City TN. And the holding hands in public display of affection. They are weird here. Actually I live in Wayland Springs TN but have a Iron City mailing address.
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Ah, that explains it! Shame about that, at the fringe of the Bible Belt in North Florida, but I guess we haven't got that much of a Puritanical streak. Holding hands is an important part of life!
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I live in Amish Country. They have horse and buggies at all the shopping centers and horse crap in the parking lots and the roads. And we have a church on every corner that there is not a gas station.
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What would be the consequence, really, of being the one person in that area willing to post content that flies in the face of accepted convention? Wouldn't you get people who hate what you're saying, but feel compelled to read it anyway?
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I think it's all really about the audience you want to reach. It's the internet, you know, it's like the wild west. Nobody is going to censor you. But people who don't like jokes about fellatio aren't going to visit to your site. then again, if you haven't got fellatio jokes, the people who love those aren't going to visti either. So it's a calculation, in the end.
Personally, I'm not a fan of that sort of humor, but there is sure a market for it, so if that's what you love, then go for it!-
I also have the added wrinkle that part of my reason for blogging is to attract potential readers of my book. If I piss a lot of people off, I may lose potential book buyers. I suppose, though, that you can't please everyone.
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Hey, congrats on the book!
In that case, MHO is that you're probably best off marketing your blog to the same demographic as your book. Is your book is aimed at people who will be upset by the mention of fellatio? -
I doubt it, because I don't go crazy with graphic details.
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...and thanks for the congrats...it's all very exciting.
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I don't, if you hold back because you're worried about offending someone, then it's going to sound fake, and nobody likes fake.
And let's not forget the most hated are often the most popular, like Howard Stern.-
I agree, to a point. But I still pull back a bit (that's what she said) on the degree of graphic detail, just trying to make it as funny as possible without being so vulgar that people are driven away.
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I think you have to go with your gut feelings on this. Seeing that whatever you do will upset somebody, just do what you think best expresses who you are. They're your threads, blogs, books.-
My blog tends to be somewhat more provocative than my writing for print, in large part because many agents/editors shy away from content that is too over-the-top (Tucker Max, I suppose, being one recent exception). My hope is that people reading my book won't be appalled when they read my blog, and that people who start with my blog won't feel ripped off if they approach my book with an expectation it will be in the very same voice. They are similar, to be sure, but not identical.
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Are you over-thinking this? Probably most can accept the difference between them, especially as they're similar. Comedians have this split all the time - in mainstream stuff, they hold back some; in club appearances, no holds barred.
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very good point
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People will always be offended by something. If you are okay with it, then it will be fine. To those who it offends, oh well they're offended. -
I sure hope it does. -
offend only the sane ones! -
I hold back only in the sense that I protect people's names etc. I won't want anyone to stop associating with me because they are afraid of being exploited on my blog. Other than that, no holds barred!! I agree with dbowles offending material sells. However, I can spot someone who is BSing or talking a lot but saying nothing just for affect.-
I try not to offend others by pointing out foibles they don't recognize themselves...I'm my favorite target (I guess my wife gets it pretty rough at times, too.)
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I don't think so. Though some people find the idea of addiction itself offensive or repugnant, and the same I guess about mental ill-health. There are people who seem to think both are simply a lifestyle choice.
I did get a bit of negative feedback about my old avatar (silhouette of someone drinking). People thought I should be "more positive" about recovery etc. I ended up writing a post about exactly why I chose it and why that was important to me at the time ("Who I am" - in case you wanted to know). I have a different avatar now, simply because I fancied a change and am at a stage in recovery now where anonymity is of less importance to me than it once was. I still don't forget who I am or where I have come from. But I am smilier about it some days!
So far, my teeth don't seem to have offended anyone! -
Tucker Max is my inspiration LOL I just blog honestly about everything - whatever comes to mind. I don't worry about offending anyone - I couldn't care less. This is me, these are my experiences, my thoughts, and if you disagree, so be it - it's not going to affect my life at all.-
But if you signed your own name to your material, and people could contact you or respond to your material in public, would that change how freely you'd express yourself?
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ahhh but see, you were discussing whether it would offend people "public consumption," not how it would be interpretted by say my family and friends. Two different issues.
As for the public, they seem to enjoy my wit. As for my friends and sisters, they enjoy my wit. I think even my parents would enjoy it if they didn't have to hear about my sex life because they don't like hearing about it in the first place.
I write under SJ Tavo because I didn't want to be stumbled upon in a random online search and judged based on my background, but just on my writing.
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It's all about your target audience. Obviously the general public may be a bit mortified to read some of your topics, but are you catering your blog to the general public?
You have to find the balance between not scaring too many people off and being unique among the other 1,999,728,091 blogs out there. -
Blogs find their own audiences. So no matter what your style is, there will be an audience for it.
Inevitably, you'll offend SOMEONE, even if it isn't your intent. So you might as well remain true to your voice and not worry about it.
The folks who are offended will be weeded out pretty quickly, anyway, and you'll be left with the folks who get what you're trying to do.
It's only your decision on what you want to share online.-
I couldn't have said it better! I totally agree with TSR!
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I don't give a sh*t about my stupid audience.-
CA! Welcome back! At least for me, haven't seen you in a while!
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I have been busy with crap
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define "crap"...no, on second thought, don't.
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I offend a whole lot of establishment people . . . it makes for some very interesting emails from time to time! -
Blogs don't offend people. Only people can allow themselves to be offended. -
good point
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I imagine my blog could offend certain people, it's about relationships/sex and some people aren't comfortable with reading and/or talking about that.
So I have an adult content warning on my blog so potential readers know what they're getting themselves into.-
I add a warning to my Facebook fan page and Twitter messages when the content drifts into the NC-17 realm.
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i have the opposite problem. i'm offended by the people who read my blogs. they should have something better to do than to be commenting with the likes of me.-
haha..you and me both
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Yes, and if you aren't offended, and the subject's politics, people and culture, you're probably not learning anything. -
I think it's affected by you. The internet is the epitome of "You saw it, you can unsee it!" I think there is always the worry that maybe family and friends (grandmas?) might read our blogs and be offended. Then it's just all you, whether you want to have that kind of blog or not. The truth is, you can't be too graphic on the web, we've all seen and read things we regret (and then passed on because those are the laws of the internet) and I really don't think you're site could possibly be any worse than everything else on the net today.-
I don't worry much about my family...if they read it, they'll probably only do so once!
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Thanks for the advice. Clearly, I took it. My blog entry on Lost in the Hive today is "ANOTHER FEEL-GOOD RABBIT PENIS STORY."
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Yes. My blog is offensive to Silence. -
;-\ I talked about living to die XD I think some people might have been cross XD
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