On blogging belligerence

There once was a time, when blogging activities were peaceful. When blogging was primarily an outlet to one's emotions. When people wrote on blogs to unwind, to meditate on the state of affairs, to think out their lives, and to understand themselves better. When people posted unencumbered by thoughts of violence and aggression. But all that has changed.

The blogging world, at least the part of it that is visible to me, is getting ugly. Posts are getting aggressive and violent. Comment wars are erupting all over the land. Sarcasm is getting out of hand, and insolence has replaced humour. Courtesy and respect have been forgotten. The days of old have left, and evil days are upon us. Don't believe me? Check out the comments to MINORity report on Summer Lightening, one of the blogs I visit regularly. It is a wonderful blog, but of-late, it's beauty was being ruined by a full-scale comment-war raging between two parties, namely Mr. Wowbagger, and Mr. Nuisance. It was fun in the beginning, but soon it got a bit out of hand. Evasive action had to be taken to end the hostilities, which now, thanks to no small a part being played by me, are over. Mr. Nuisance, nice fellow that he is, has come to his senses, and has signaled an end to all aggression. Mr. Bagger, though he hasn't actually declared peace, has not posted a comment on the post in question for some time now, so it would be safe to assume the episode over.

The incident mentioned above is but a single example of a widespread phenomenon. Blogging belligerence is definitely on the rise these days. I, personally, feel that blogging belligerence comes about due to two reasons.

Firstly, it is because of the anonymity provided by the net. Bloggers, these days, try their very best to project themselves in an extremely positive light. Nothing wrong with that, I say. It is but an expression of the human ego. But many actually lie (gasp!!) to make sure readers think well of them. These bloggers, as a general rule, try to be 'Cool Dudes' and lie about their physical appearances, their opinions on certain issues, the status of their lives, and sometimes, even their badminton skills. Such false claims provide a lot of scope for blog-battles.

Secondly, blogging aggression comes about due to a much simpler and more fundamental reason. Human aggression. Human aggression is, try as we might to deny it, one of the most basic human qualities, and trying to outdo others in a battle of wits is but a natural extension of this aggression. This is probably what happened in the example cited above. It started out innocently, with two people passing funny and witty comments against each other. But as often happens when wit is kept unchecked, the comments, especially the later ones, ended up a bit on the ruder side, and things got out of hand.

Another question which I must deal with before I sign-off is that of hope. "Is all hope lost?", some may ask. "Will we perpetually live under a shadow of blogging belligerence for the rest of our times?" The answer is a big, resounding NO. Things, if we make a conscious effort, can change. All hope is not lost. Do not try to mislead others by misrepresenting yourself. And keep wit under check. These are the two biggest lessons the bloggers of our times have to learn. If you already follow these two basic rules, rejoice, for you have already done your bit to make the blogging world a safe and peaceful place. If you don't, kindly try to. That is all I ask for.