The Ethics of Blogging

You wouldn't think something as simply complex as blogging would evoke moral complications, would you?
I wish it wouldnt' sometimes. But the other side of the coin says yes, yes I do. Our morals and ethics is what makes us different and interesting. Even people within the same belief system have different ideas about the same thing...I think it's because ultimately no one can be 100% right. We are all wrong somewhere...

But the way this applies to blogging for me is, when a tour group asks you not to post bad reviews. I've just been asked that and the question is, is it not a lie to keep the truth from your viewers?

Not saying anything at all is like admitting that the truth isn't prevalent to what you are doing. Why would a place ask me to lie about something that is so opinionated anyway?

The thing that almost angers me more, is the fact of the number of bloggers just going along with it. Why? Why do you do this? Are you afraid of being called out? Are you afraid of discrimination? Are you afraid to take a stand?

I'm foremost appalled at the idea that I would bend my morals for a BLOG for crying out loud. I will post my reviews however I like them! Another question is, do the authors know about such policies? Do they know that the group is demanding only shining reviews? I sure hope they are blissfully ignorant. Otherwise, shame to the instigator as well...I know you want your book to get good reviews, but to be honest, bad review generate as much curiosity as good ones!

I'm finishing up the last tour I have with said group and formally resigning afterwards.

What is your view? What would you sacrifice, or what wouldn't you, for you blog/book? 

RebelReader

Wow! Have I got a blog post for you!

What better for a teen reviewer than a publisher that allows teens all over the world to read books before they are published? I thought ‘nothing!’ They put two books every month on the website, and allow everyone to read them. As I searched the site more and more, I found out that there hadn’t been any books that weren’t romance novels. By ‘romance’ I don’t mean things like ‘beauty and the beast.’ I’m talking about full out uncomfortable inappropriateness. I decided to post a message on the message board and see what teens said. Well, I got what I wanted – feedback. Not in the way I was thinking though. The answers I got were……..

Colorful.

Yes, I, the teen reviewer got an earful (or rather….eyeful) of four-lettered vocabulary. But, I wasn’t mad; I was sad. The basis of teen morals seemed to deteriorate before my very eyes. I got almost 20 responses, all but 1 was negative. The analyzer inside of me waved its red flags. Why? Because I had conflicting data. Sure, I had 20 people get ticked off at me in cyberspace. But guess what? My website has had almost 4,000 views.

So, on one hand I had twenty teens who believed that that kind of romance is the pure existence of ‘teen.’ They think I’m a load of……garbage. In one word they thought me

Ignorant,Wrong.

On the other hand, I have a college, several internationally famous authors, and 4,000 views that scream at me –

Right On.

They think they drilled the ‘shut up’ into the teen.

Instead, they drove it out, cranked up the sound and turned this teen into a rebel.

(Encarta Dictionary)

Rebel- noun,

  1.Someone who rejects the common codes and conventions of society.

  2. To protest by defying a form of authority.

The Authority – Those select teens who serve and bow to earthly things.

The Crime - Standing, Speaking, Fighting.

The Defendant’s Plea –    Guilty.

Dare to Read

Dare to Rebel,

ReviewerRachel