Like a good blogger, I read both sides of a story before reflecting on my own views. I’ve read Tomorrow.sg’s new linking policy, read CowboyCaleb’s interesting post entitled “Put a sock in it“, Mr Wang’s heartfelt “Ethics for Tomorrow“, as well as links to other blogs sharing their thoughts on the issue. (Interestingly, I found that most commentaries on each post supported the respective blog owner’s stand… it kinda makes sense, however I should investigate the leanings of comments with respect to each reader’s favorite blogs)
Then, I happened to find a timely post entitled “Singapore metablog Tomorrow.sg and a discussion on Linking Policies” on Global Voices via Technorati, written by none other than MrBrown, an editor for Tomorrow.sg. In his article, he addressed the world on their views on linking policy, especially with regards to non-consentual linking (or as he calls it: not asking for permission before linking people’s blog posts). Since I felt that it was a case of an uneducated blogger making her first big mistake, I had to say something for the sake of fairness (even though I HAD to sleep 3hrs ago!).
Here is my open comment (still under moderation at time of post) to MrBrown on Global Voices
Dear MrBrown, on the grounds that if a site were publicly available on the web, we should have the “right to link”, which includes the privilege of not needing anyone’s permission to link to them. However, this recent event wasn’t a simple case of unwanted attention due to links.
I must point out that much of the Tomorrow.sg editors’ stand missed the idea of “context”. The point was that they were eventually responsible for the surge of unwanted attention to the pregnant unwed teenager. In effect, this reaction would not have reached such proportions if the catalyst were not introduced.
This event required a higher sense of ethics, not so of logic. Did none of the thirteen editors realize that it might have been detrimental to the girl’s well-being when a few decided to publish her blog?
Understandably, the better situation would have been one where she were taught the social implications of blogging, before realizing it’s full impact only after this painful mistake. Bloggers fresh off the boat would not yet have the chance to realize the various social functions of blogs, let alone understand the various web technologies at their disposal to limit their exposure to the private few. Therefore, I feel that the right thing to do would be for us, responsible & experienced bloggers, to help out new users where possible.
The blogosphere is still an evolving formless thing, so much of these rules evolve over events such as these. As such, I wish for an equally-adaptable Tomorrow.sg
Do let me know what you think!
