The Blogosphere Gone PC

So you all think you're free thinkers and a real challenge to the morass of MSM? You think you really have it in you to create something TRULY different, to change something out there, to make yourself heard? You think you're somehow more daring, more independent, more provoking than your average Joe?

You're think you're something else, don't you?

Think again!

You're not. You're ALL just a bunch of regular people, Blogosphere. And yes, I mean YOU. Yes, you, and you, and you.

(By the way, I was inspired by this post, in case anyone's wondering what got into me today.)

The rise of the blogosphere was supposed to signal the rise of the citizen journalism. Not without a good reason - that's how it started out. A bunch of brave regular people finally got the tools they needed to investigate what needed to be investigated, to bring up the issues, which needed to be brought up, to ask the tough questions.

The blogosphere, however, was supposed to be more than just a free-for-all for pundits. It was supposed to be a community with innumerable niches, where even the shy, lonely outcasts of the "real life" had space and opportunity to make themselves heard. The blogosphere was supposed to be the most democratic of outlets, empowering individuals who would otherwise feel too intimidated to say aloud what they were thinking deep inside.

Bloggers would run their own show. They could curse, they could gossip about their families anonymously, they could criticize regimes and changes, they could discuss and heatedly dispute whatever issues they felt like, without having to play second fiddle to anyone else's interest.

It was a beautiful vision, which, unfortunately was not to be.

Because the blogosphere went PC.

You don't know me, Blogosphere.

I am the silent lurker, who watches the various communities, leaving only occasional, very general comments. I go from clique to clique, observing, listening, noticing patterns.

I see what's happening, and I don't like it one little bit.

Because what started out as a great experiment deteriorated into the virtual version of the very "real life" everyone dreaded and wished to avoid. Although slightly more liberating than the random browsing of your phone book, the blogosphere wound up placing the very same restrictions on your interactions and communications you willingly and voluntarily, and quite inevitably place upon yourselves in "real life". The restraint and anonymity of interacting with strangers. The fear of forming close ties; thus the proliferation of "anonymouses". The fear of saying the wrong thing to the wrong person, of pissing off your boss, girlfriend, parents, and losing your job, your credibility, your reputation. Of being judged.

You huddle and hide in your tight little cliques, gloating about your wonderful new-found freedom. That's right, you've found your ability to choose among cliques, however, despite what you initially claimed, you completely failed in *eliminating* the very idea of clique mentality. In fact, perhaps, unwittingly, you've joined the ranks of the very people you once condemned in the far away, elusive real life.

Freedom of speech? Ha! Please. What a joke. I'm not talking Big Brother here. Who needs government control, when we are ALL our own best self-censors. I'm not talking about a careful choices of style, tone, issues to present, or guests we allow to visit or comment on our blogs. I'm not even talking about comment moderation. I'm talking about the indirect but visible pressure we all apply on each other to Keep It Civil Stupid. And by civil, I don't mean being respectful and avoiding troll-like behavior. I'm talking about the hypocrisy of political correctness. The constant fear of treading on someone's toes, of hurting someone's sensitivities.

We call ourselves the most open-minded people in the world, and yet we're no better than anyone else, and perhaps worse, because we're like the two-faced Janus - saying one thing aloud, but behaving in a way that completely contradicts our own declarations. We invite discussion, yet we tolerate no criticism. We get mortally offended by someone's even innocuous disagreement with our own point of view. From raising children, to struggles with personal health and reproductive issues, to politics, to just about any other topic widely covered out there, we say that we want to hear all points of views, yet in reality, we only want to hear people who agree with us, or who, at least, fall within a very narrow and limited "safe" range of critics we're ready to answer. No important differences there.

Our desire to make friends and please people, to gain and keep readers, to have nice, interesting discussions causes us to stiffle our voices in frustrations and find words or topics the majority of our targetted audience will approve.

If someone comes in and makes a very different value judgment from our own, it starts a flame war or at least a chain of sobbing posts across our microcommunities.

We gang up on each other, just like the very folk we hate to emulate.

We wanted the blogosphere to be a different, better world, but soon enough we wind up tearing off all masks, and however inadvertently, showing glimpses of our personalities even in the way we interact with our commenters. There's no hiding your real self in the blogosphere. You can hide your name, your habits, your interests, various details of your life. But you can never hide your own self - not in the blogosphere, not in the real world.

That's why, my dear Blogosphere, you're not some alternative reality, enacted by the choices of so many great, special individuals. You're merely a reflection of what real life is, albeit with distorted rules, new limitations, and perhaps, a little bit more of a salon-like atmosphere. You don't offer anything new. You don't offer new liberties. You only offer more opportunities to be yourself and to discover who you really are - and who are the people you choose to interact with.

The blogosphere, after all, is made up of real, breathing human beings, and just as any system, it only consists of what they make it to be. There's no reason to expect anything else.

Seeing through it all,
Irina