The Politics of Blogging

I’ve noticed lately that a lot of blogs I like to frequent have become very political. While I don’t mind seeing a badge proclaiming who you are endorsing, I do mind it when the blog I once loved to visit has become full of hateful rhetoric and nasty attacks on people who don’t share the blogger’s views. For this very reason, I’ve avoided talking about politics on my own blog.

My blog is really a scrapbook of sorts- a place where I can share cool things I find online, music, and sometimes my own random thoughts. I don’t care too much if someone leaves a comment, but I prefer the comment to be here instead of say, Twitter or another place I frequent. However, the blogs that used to be a nice escape from the craziness of the mainstream media or just a place to engage in some friendly chit-chat with a fellow blogger has me cringing and wondering what happened to sanity of the author after seeing that politics has become the main topic or at least every other post.

I know that politics is a touchy issue for some, but I think that bloggers who have a blog that is about literature shouldn’t be posting hateful things about a candidate, whether it’s a candidate I endorse or not. I think that some of these bloggers are using their platform as a way to speak their mind, which is fine, but maybe they should have considered managing a new blog specifically for this and add a link to the main one so that I don’t have to read it if I choose not to. I don’t want to visit a poetry blog and see someone screaming about how Barack Obama is an Arab or terrorist, Joe Biden is a gaffe-machine, or how John McCain is a crazy old fart and Sarah Palin is a gun-toting cunt. I get enough of this reading and watching MSM. If I feel something about a candidate, I talk about it with people I know, but I don’t turn my blog into a political battlefield. A lot of bloggers who do care about their readers may have gained a few who agree with their views, but they are losing a lot more who are fed up of all this rhetoric. The same people they bitch and moan about are what they have turned into. It’s sad. I’ll miss some of my favorite haunts.

Remember people: Elections come and go, but your blog will always be there. Don’t alienate your readers for short-term bitching about politics. In the end, it won’t matter who won or not when no one is left to read your hate-filled blog. You won’t be able to go back to writing about rainbows and butterflies after we’ve seen how obscene you were during election year. Don’t forget who you are, because your candidate -whoever they are- will have forgotten you after your donation anyways.

And for all you politicians and MSM? Please visit here. Thank you.