Are We Really So Bad?

As I was reading through Aiz's blog, some comments written about an earlier post he wrote seemed to me somewhat harsh, therefore I put up what I felt was a suitable reply. For those of you interested, please go here for the thread. Here again is my reply to the comments made on Aiz's Volume of Interactions. Perhaps I was too quick to rush in, but in some way, I felt justified in responding. Do let me know what you think, since obviously our capacity to receive criticism is under question here. I reproduce my response to the comments as such:

Dear Affin and Uncle Ho's customer,

I may not have the depth/breadth of experience you both have, but allow me to perhaps reflect on what both of you have commented. Of course, these are my opinions only, and therefore may be erroneous.

1) Lana did not imply that bloggers may slander freely. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, a few weeks ago, there was a rather informative discussion on this blog (and also the kotaraya group) between Aiz and Jeff Ooi about the legal ramifications of blogging. I suggest you contact Aiz for said articles.

2) Bloggers never imply that everything they post is correct and may not be commented upon. If that is the case, most of us will never post a comment box under each entry. It is the nature of interactivity available on the web that appeals to us bloggers, and the notion that through said interactivity, we learn and get feedback from those who stop to read.

3) I find the statement "all the media attention" somewhat misleading. True that we were featured in INFOSOC, and also that In.Tech did a report. But I do not feel that this qualifies as a "lot" of media attention. It was a welcome exposure, yes, and helps dispel the myth that bloggers are a reclusive subculture of computer geeks.

4) If we had felt that we were above the law, we wouldn't have discussions on the possibility of our writings construed as libel, slander and the like. I sincerely hope that the both of you would spare some time to sift through some of our blogs and also the KotaRaya board (among others). As lana mentioned, bloggers reflect the locality/situation/time they live in. Each and every blog is special, in that it describes the world through the eyes of ordinary people who do not have any particular benefit to gain from the writing. We may not be as authoritative as a peer-reviewed Journal, but if our writings may spark a concerned journalist to ask more questions, then might we not also be considered a potential source of information?

5) Finally, it is my opinion that perhaps some journalists have lost touch with the public. Maybe if you were to go to the villages and small towns, you'd realise just how much animosity there is toward the official press channels, and why some members of the public are a bit reluctant to consider them authoritative. The man in the street has never had any kind of publishing power until the advent of blogging, and I think the fact that so many people are attracted to alternative news sources (including blogs) may be a sign of a deficiency somewhere else.

I hope I have not offended anyone with my (long) post. Thank you.

*Newly added: A. Asohan has since then posted a lovely, comprehensive reply to my comment. Do make your way to Aiz's blog to read it. And since we're on the subject, here are some links that I hope will help other bloggers like myself:

Dear Abby's reply to a 14 year old girl's question on blogging

Weblogs help create political hotspot