How About That Blogging?

So I’ve noticed some flaws in the mode of discourse on this blog. I do not feel that people here are paying enough attention to their writing. I feel compelled to discuss proper writing and discussion techniques.

First, I have noticed a problem with grammar. It seems to me that people assume that because this is online, they can write things hurriedly, without much or any proofreading, and without conscious attention paid to being grammatically correct. Not being grammatically correct can be a serious hindrance to communication. I admit, minor problems in spelling or punctuation may not throw most people off. They do throw me off, as I notice the problem and begin thinking about it instead of the point of the article. However, when you get into seriously incorrect sentences, it can make it near impossible for the reader to understand what you are trying to say.

A second problem I have noticed is posts that seem to have no central theme. Without a central point to focus your writing on, how can you get any message across at all? People tend to couple this with a lack of clear progression and connections. If you make a statement, it is necessary to follow it up, and make it clear how what you say next is connected to your statement. People tend to say something, and then randomly jump to another topic, or throw in a few examples without explaining how the examples are pertinent to their theses.

A third major failing people seem to have on the internet is respectful civic discourse. Flaming is not the only way to fail at this. To come across as respectful and intelligent, you must have respect for the intelligence and points of view of others. Part of this is the tone of discourse: Hostile confrontation or an accusatory tone does not assist in advancing ideas. However, another part is what is hidden or implied in seemingly respectful or civic words. For example, if you state something as fact and in some way say that intelligent readers will of course agree with you, you may not say it, and you may sound perfectly respectful, but you are quite clearly calling all those who do not agree with you stupid and/or illogical.

This leads us to a discussion of logic. Making statements without proof or making clearly illogical arguments not only makes your post harder to understand, and makes people less inclined to agree with your point of view, but it is also annoying to no end, and will cause people to pay less attention to anything that you say that actually is logical. Blogging may be about opinion, but it is about expressing your opinion in a clear way to others. For this to happen, you must use logic.

Last, but certainly not least, is audience. If you are going to get your point across, it is an absolute must that you have some sense of your audience. If you do not understand who is going to be reading your post, or you do not understand what kind of person you are discussing with, your post is going to have a very serious weakness. If you are not writing to the readers, the readers will not understand.

I admit that I may, and probably have, made some of these mistakes myself. I will do my utmost to fix it from this point on. I hope that I have followed all of my own criteria in this post, and I do hope that those of you who aim to discuss things with me in the future will attempt to follow them as well, as I will, so that we may have meaningful discussions.