Am I spying on your blog?

Do not get mistaken. I am not going to zoom in on the big commotion lately on how some people felt they were “spied” on, when they were slammed for what they wrote against other races or authorities in their blogs.

A lot of people blog these days.

Some people treat it as a personal web diary where they talk about things that are closest to their hearts, and the blog is meant only for their closest ones to read. Some used it to keep in contact with their family and friends whom they may not see to often, and to update one another. Some used it to vent off their frustrations in school or at work, record their happiness, or to keep their memories of someone or something alive. Some used it to manipulate others’ political or social opinions. Others like me, simply love to write and share their general thoughts and perspectives.

A lot of people link their friends’ blogs to their blogs too.

This means that if I read someone’s blog, there might be a link on his blog to his friend’s blog. I might, out of curiosity or simply because I had time to kill, surf into the friend’s blog to read. If I enjoy reading it, I might go back again.

Because this person is a complete stranger, even if I read the blog and felt strongly towards a particular entry, I will simply keep it to myself and not post a comment.

He does not know who I am, but what if he knows that I am reading his blog, and feels that I am spying on him?

I am not sure if anybody out there feels this way, but I think there are probably some, especially for those whose blogs are more personal.

I, for one, do not feel so. In fact, I love to have people, even those who do not know me to read my blog. At least, they could judge objectively if I am making sense.

In my opinion, a blog is very different from a diary you keep locked in your drawer. Once you write something on your blog, you have to be responsible for it. If there is something you want to get off your chest but you do not want others to know who you are, then do not put it in your personal blog. If you are saying, “I just want some people to know, but not some others.” Then you have come to the wrong place to vent off your frustrations, because anything you post on the world wide web is practically for one and all to read. We have seen how people who were not given the urls or passwords of some blogs, were able to read the contents of the blogs. This just goes to show how much blogs can be protected on the web. Even if the actual blog could not be read, the contents could still be easily reproduced.

If you do not want to be responsible for your words on the web, try writing a diary and keep in under locks.