blogging_ugly_american

5.19.05

8:57am

my office

Blogging the Ugly American

morgan young

"Blog. Blog. Bloggers. Blogging. Bloggity-blog-blog-blog." Blogs have been around for a while but like everything from pet rocks to American Idol, they are now squarely in the mainstream everything: press, television, and water cooler conversations.

On one hand, these are cool little entities. You can share information, give opinions, Lord knows you can receive opinions. For years now I've had my own website and before I had heard the "b-word" I suppose my site is in essence, one big blog.

(For this rant, I'll throw online communities under the blog umbrella, since pretty much the same kind of things happen in them.)

Over the years I have been an enormous fan of the blog. I have been a member of little blog-munities where I shared and gleaned tons of information about drumming, a lifelong obsession of mine. I went from knowing "bupkis" about the Suzuki Volusia motorcycle (my bike) to knowing volumes in short order in that blog-munity. And recently I went from being a clueless dog owner to a well versed
greyhound authority in the same manner. These blog-munities have really sped up the learning curve on virtually anything and offered unique friendship opportunities with people literally all over the globe.

But naturally, like any great thing in America, it has also revealed a disgusting underbelly: a deficit of civility.

The word "ugly American" comes to mind when I think of all the unattractive cyberspace exchanges I've witnessed. The ugly American is the guy or gal who sees it as their inalienable right to dispense their unvarnished views with all the visceral horsepower they can muster, with no regard for the recipient.

(aside) I'm tired of the ugly American. We see this constantly in the punditry of CNN and Fox News. We see it every election season and even at the Little League diamonds as coaches and parents line-drive comments to umpires, as if they were only an umpire; a faceless person who wears dark blue 24-7-365; no regard that he's a husband, father, teacher or whatever.

So far, I've seen two of my favorite blog-o-spheres implode. I've seen people function as if it's their right to crudely put people in their place and show them the error of their ways. (Interestingly, it's often the person attacking who's very often in the wrong.) I've seen people mega-spam everyone in a bog-munity with emails. I've seen moderators verbally attacked and threatened. In one blog-munity I finally just walked away from it because the posts were overrun by dealing with all the drama instead of being about drums. And in another, the host completely shut down the site, which closed the door on a treasure-trove of information and relationships.

And of course at this point, some people may play the free speech card and suggest that this is what America is: a melting pot of diversity. But in the case of the closed site I just mentioned, this wasn't a town square; a governmental public building. It was his "house" if you will. His server, his place, his money. Just because these blog-munities can be accessed by anyone, doesn't mean anyone has the right to be rude. I see them like this:

My house is listed in the phone book. I live in a neighborhood that's easy to find. Just because anyone can find and get to my house doesn't give them the right to come over and behave in any way they see fit. I see blog-munities in the same way: it's not MY cyberspace. Someone owns it and hosts it. It's someone else's "place" that I'm visiting and I behave accordingly.

(For the record, there are blogs where "anything goes" IS the rule. I'm not speaking fo those.)

If I'm not into what people are saying or if I can't find agreement or a level of understanding, perhaps I should move on. But in this situation, the ugly American often lays siege. Digs in. Spews venom.

In a nation that's a melting pot of peoples; in a nation that's peppered with the word "diversity," it seems we lack civility. Civility is that rare ideal that people have enough value to warrant polite behavior from useven if they have differing views. Civility is having enough respect for someone to treat them, well, much like we'd like to be treated. Civility is something we learned in kindergarten.

Civility is not a hard concept to grasp.

Civility requires we not just think about ourselves.

Civility considers how they may feel.

Civility does not require us to change what we believe (unless we believe we have the right to treat people rudely).

Civility can be seen in the Fruits of the Spirit.

Civility starts with us; one person at a time.

Civility is the antidote for the ugly American...

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	5.19.05 8:57am my office Blogging the Ugly American morgan young "Blog. Blog. Bloggers. Blogging. Bloggity-blog-blog-blog." Blogs have been around for a while but like everything from pet rocks to American Idol, they are now squarely in the mainstream everything: press, television, and water cooler conversations. On one hand, these are cool little entities. You can share information, give opinions, Lord knows you can receive opinions. For years now I've had my own website and before I had heard the "b-word" I suppose my site is in essence, one big blog. (For this rant, I'll throw online communities under the blog umbrella, since pretty much the same kind of things happen in them.) Over the years I have been an enormous fan of the blog. I have been a member of little blog-munities where I shared and gleaned tons of information about drumming, a lifelong obsession of mine. I went from knowing "bupkis" about the Suzuki Volusia motorcycle (my bike) to knowing volumes in short order in that blog-munity. And recently I went from being a clueless dog owner to a well versed greyhound authority in the same manner. These blog-munities have really sped up the learning curve on virtually anything and offered unique friendship opportunities with people literally all over the globe. But naturally, like any great thing in America, it has also revealed a disgusting underbelly: a deficit of civility. The word "ugly American" comes to mind when I think of all the unattractive cyberspace exchanges I've witnessed. The ugly American is the guy or gal who sees it as their inalienable right to dispense their unvarnished views with all the visceral horsepower they can muster, with no regard for the recipient. (aside) I'm tired of the ugly American. We see this constantly in the punditry of CNN and Fox News. We see it every election season and even at the Little League diamonds as coaches and parents line-drive comments to umpires, as if they were only an umpire; a faceless person who wears dark blue 24-7-365; no regard that he's a husband, father, teacher or whatever. So far, I've seen two of my favorite blog-o-spheres implode. I've seen people function as if it's their right to crudely put people in their place and show them the error of their ways. (Interestingly, it's often the person attacking who's very often in the wrong.) I've seen people mega-spam everyone in a bog-munity with emails. I've seen moderators verbally attacked and threatened. In one blog-munity I finally just walked away from it because the posts were overrun by dealing with all the drama instead of being about drums. And in another, the host completely shut down the site, which closed the door on a treasure-trove of information and relationships. And of course at this point, some people may play the free speech card and suggest that this is what America is: a melting pot of diversity. But in the case of the closed site I just mentioned, this wasn't a town square; a governmental public building. It was his "house" if you will. His server, his place, his money. Just because these blog-munities can be accessed by anyone, doesn't mean anyone has the right to be rude. I see them like this: My house is listed in the phone book. I live in a neighborhood that's easy to find. Just because anyone can find and get to my house doesn't give them the right to come over and behave in any way they see fit. I see blog-munities in the same way: it's not MY cyberspace. Someone owns it and hosts it. It's someone else's "place" that I'm visiting and I behave accordingly. (For the record, there are blogs where "anything goes" IS the rule. I'm not speaking fo those.) If I'm not into what people are saying or if I can't find agreement or a level of understanding, perhaps I should move on. But in this situation, the ugly American often lays siege. Digs in. Spews venom. In a nation that's a melting pot of peoples; in a nation that's peppered with the word "diversity," it seems we lack civility. Civility is that rare ideal that people have enough value to warrant polite behavior from useven if they have differing views. Civility is having enough respect for someone to treat them, well, much like we'd like to be treated. Civility is something we learned in kindergarten. Civility is not a hard concept to grasp. Civility requires we not just think about ourselves. Civility considers how they may feel. Civility does not require us to change what we believe (unless we believe we have the right to treat people rudely). Civility can be seen in the Fruits of the Spirit. Civility starts with us; one person at a time. Civility is the antidote for the ugly American... top back home