In my post “OK, Now I’m Mad”, I was mean to my Toronto Star courier, implying that she could be brighter and that got me asking whether it was okay to be mean while blogging.
I know bloggers don’t take an oath as doctors do to do the harm, but isn’t it a general rule of civility? If so, what’s going to happen to humor?
How for example can Clotida Jamcracker be so funny if she gives up dissing her high school acquaintances and her mother-in-law Dottie? http://clotildajamcracker.wordpress.com/2012/07/25/making-coffees/
On a more serious side, how can we understand why Slapppshot kidnapped his daughter to Sweden if we don’t know her Australian mother had become a drug addict? Right now he’s in the middle of a series titled, “Confessions of an Alcoholic”. http://slapppshotblog.com/2012/07/24/confessions-of-an-alcoholic-2/ These, I am glad to note, are other people’s stories and he has permission to recount them. So no harm.
Clotilda has built a firewall around her true identity and used pseudonyms, so the chances of her targets finding out how she really feels -or feels when she’s being funny – are slim. Slapppshot on the other hand would be easier to uncover. Indeed much to his dismay someone actually did and emailed him ominously that they knew where he lived.
Is it okay to be mean if we do it anonymously then?
Oh, this question is way too politically correct, isn’t it?
115 journals 
An interesting subject this one. I am aware of Ms Jamcrackers work and it is indeed very funny stuff.
It’s a choice we make. I have made mine…she has made hers. You make yours and others make theirs. As long as we can be held accountable for our actions. I defend my choice by being public…I personally do not wish to hide…I am ‘tired’ of hiding!
Anyway…as I said…an interesting topic. Good luck with your choices 🙂
Hey, Slappshot, thanks for your comment. Good to hear you are comfortable with your choice. Keep up the good work.
Mean is ocassionally ok just not evil, wicked, cruel….one can be mean while smiling, but it is not so for the evil doer – they are more than mean to the bone, they have no soul.
Yes, I suppose it is all about intention and the main thing about blogging is it has to be open-hearted.
Good question! I try to be funny while avoiding being mean to anyone. However, sometimes poking fun is not meant to be mean.There’s mean and there’s mean. You know what I mean?
A good skill to learn, the difference between “poking fun” and being mean. I love your blog name. My sense of humour.
Very true..I certainly enjoy your writing and poking fun toward others you know. Makes it fun reading
Thanks. In some cases, I know that people I mention and poke fun at are actually going to read it, so I pay attention to what they will find funny and what, offensive.