I still don’t quite understand why Boing Boing is in the heat they’re in over some posts they removed from their site. For those who don’t know… ultralarge blog Boing Boing decided to “unpublish” some posts they wrote about some chick for some reason (apparently to avoid litigation of the Scientology-esque brand). This in turn pissed off a bunch of readers because apparently there’s a rule of the internet that says bloggers aren’t supposed/allowed to revise, reedit, or delete their own posts.

Honestly I think that’s a bunch of bullshit. Bloggers aren’t government entities. Bloggers can do whatever they want to do with their sites. And if people say that it’s a bad idea to delete posts because readers will get pissed off or will at least react in some unsavory way… so what? The internet is not exempt from the laws of reality just because it’s “the internet”. No one has the right to NOT get pissed off because something happened.

I think the staff at Boing Boing is intelligent enough to realize that actions have consequences, even if those consequences actually play out or not. If of course readers choose to not want to read Boing Boing again, so be it. But if in the end all this bullshitting about them “unpublishing” posts is just a bunch of hot air, then whatever. However I think readers should understand that as much as bloggers would love to appeal to their readers, in the end they are not obligated to them, and so bloggers will do what they want to do for whatever reason.

I guess I should use this opportunity to restate my own policies for this site: I want to write a story and build a website that makes both YOU readers and myself happy. But in the end, my own happiness takes precedent, so I reserve the right to go all “George Lucas” (and now “Boing Boing”) with my own work. Pages WILL be deleted. Lines WILL be revised. Jokes WILL be removed. Of course I do hope that these revisions will make you guys even happier in the end. BUt I don’t care if there is this unwritten law of the internet that states I can’t revise, reedit or delete my own work. I will say this as bluntly as possible: FUCK the “laws” of the internet. Moose River is a territory that I etched out on my own, so it is subject to my own rules. And as long as I’m able to write my own rules as to how I wish to run my site, I accept all the consequences my actions might create (ex. readers getting pissed off at what kind of revisions I made, losing readers because I don’t update often.).

Uh… so yeah. Really, everyone is unbounded by the universe to act in a specific way. Nothing stops Boing Boing from unpublishing their own posts. Nothing can prevent you from getting pissed off because some blogger unpublished their own work. Nothing can stop readers from refusing to visit a website because they’re pissed off. I think once people understand all this, the flame wars of the internet might die out a bit.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 21st, 2008 at 13:27 and is filed under Bjournal Post. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.