Dear Community: “Do I let him blog?” -In a pickle
- 18 Comment
I’m channeling my inner “Dear Abby” right now. An email I received this morning sparked an idea and opportunity to help someone who really needs advice. This is the first in a series of “Communications and Public Relations Advice Column: Dear Community.” Your feedback and advice will be shared with those who need it. What’s the point of building a strong network if we don’t help one another out?
Your advice will shape and/or contribute to the decision made by this individual. Respond wisely and thoughtfully.
In your response, begin with “Dear In a pickle.”
Do you have an “Dear Community” question? Email yours to prsarahevans at gmail dot com.
18 Comments on this post
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Sarah said:
I say let him publish it. One of the most read and succesful University Magazines in Glasgow allows the writers to write whatever they want…from sexual encounters to staying up 72 hours revising. This should also be crossed over to blogs as well.
Let him make it real…perhaps ask him to tone it down a little if people are going to get offended…but take the risk, and I’m sure that it will pay off.
September 8th, 2009 at 10:38 am -
Patrick said:
I think a discussion with said writer is in need. Some people do not understand that what is on the internet is for everyone to see. A blog with more than one writer must still follow the goals it wishes to have as a productive site online. I think some consideration as to what the content is as well as what type of things he is referring to is important.
Not necessarily saying make it politically correct. But in every situation there is a better way to say some things that may come off as rude, vulgar, impolite, etc.
September 8th, 2009 at 10:45 am -
Sarah said:
Patrick:- If it’s a Student Blog as described in the question, then it will be read by students. Most of them will be expecting something along those lines.
Asking him to tone it down too much and not to be vulgar would be like asking Mock The Week to not be offensive. It doesn’t work like that. Slip a warning on for the readers if need be, but don’t try and reign him in too much, or you’ll end up with him not wanting to write for you – which would be defeating the point of it all in the first place.
September 8th, 2009 at 10:49 am -
George G Smith Jr said:
My advice to Dear in a Pickle:
I would approach the blogger and let them know your concerns. I would let him know that this would be available for everyone to read and they may jump to conclusions or get mad at the author. Let him know that you will publish it word for word if he would like – but you just want to make sure that he’s comfortable with what is in there knowing that it may be read by everyone and anyone. If the author agrees, then go ahead and publish it. It may not be “what you wanted” in a blog but that’s the nature of allowing blogging. It’s self expression and if the author is definitely sure that’s how he wants to express himself – you should publish it.
@GeorgeGSmithJr
September 8th, 2009 at 10:59 am -
Tim Otis said:
Dear In a Pickle-
Allowing the said student to post content as is could jeopardize the reputation of the school with which associated. Even though the audience is student geared, it doesn’t take much for a parent or other school official to peruse the blog content and see the types of things students are writing about it, and indirectly, teachers are endorsing. Remember, there are indirect consequences for questionable blog content. If your gut is telling you this is questionable, I would go with your gut.On the other hand, a disclaimer on this blog would help focus and clarify the true owners of this content– resulting in either less blame/controversy or no blame at all for published content and it being associated with the school or you as a teacher.
September 8th, 2009 at 11:13 am -
Roxane said:
Dean In a Pickle,
Blogs should not be censored. Authenticity is a key component of what you want to achieve here by allowing the original post to be made available to all. That said, I agree with Sarah’s points above. Review the post with the writer and be sure they understand the reach and possible effects their words will have on the reader and the author.
@rmpapagSeptember 8th, 2009 at 11:14 am -
Lon S. Cohen said:
Dear In a pickle,
You’re definitely in a sticky predicament. Sure, everything we read and see online about blogs says, don’t censor. It’s the antithesis of what the internet is about. Information wants to be free. Love all. Deny none and all that. So that said, let me see if I can tackle this for you and offer some advice, which I then beg of you not to take.
I do not know from your email to Sarah what capacity you work at the school or even what level of education facility. That said here are my suggestions:If this is a high school, you do not publish the blog post. High schoolers need to be edited. They can express themselves and really should be encouraged to speak their minds but in the formal capacity of a school blog, I say the content needs to be clean of vulgarity and offensive remarks at the extreme. This is a gray area, granted, but for all intents and purposes high school bloggers should stick to a set of guidelines.
Undergraduate + level. I am really assuming this is not a high school student blog. I just put the above in there just in case. If the content is inflamatory or exhibits extreme amounts of vulgarity, cursing or bigotry, then perhaps it needs to be looked at again by the author. I am for free speech but a university does have to take a stance on this type of language.
If the problem is simply that the content uses curse words to make a point and looks at certain people askew to invite a conversation, then it’s probably appropriate. Just because a curse word insults your sensibilities does not mean it will be received that way by the student body. Of course when introducing the post, a disclaimer of some sort might be in order. Also, I’d make sure there is another disclaimer that says the opinions of the author are his own and doesn’t reflect the views of the university that is hosting the blog. Another thing you might want to do is to explicitly invite people to write counterpoints not only in the comments but as a contrasting blog post if they see fit.
Being an manager of a blog where you publish the comments and posts of people related to but outside of the organization you work for is hard. You want to invite openness and discussion but must balance that with good decision making that doesn’t look like you are editorializing. I know how it is.
I think that since you opened this blog up to students, you don’t want to come right out of the starting gate denying your first submission. For it to be successful I think the student body needs to know their voice is being heard on the blog or else they will go somewhere else to express themselves and your whole endeavor will be for naught. There is a certain level of openness that people expect on blogs, so weigh that into the equation.
My entire comment is probably so wishy-washy that it’s useless but I do think it’s an important issue and both sides need to be weighed. I have had comments and blog posts backfire on my personally so I know that one off handed comment can be misconstrued by others as very offensive.Especially when you represent an organization and it’s not just a personal website – where you can get away with much more.
Last advice I have is to test the waters. If you have other students that you trust and are blogging for you, get their opinion. Ask them – is this post something offensive or is it a good conversation starter.
Hope this helps.
September 8th, 2009 at 11:22 am -
nc10 - john said:
Dear in a pickle,
Ask him to tone it down a little – you can say the same things in less offensive ways. This doesn’t make it any less real, just more accessible
September 8th, 2009 at 4:24 pm -
Chuck Tanowitz said:
I don’t know if the issue is so much about whether to post or not post as it is about having a consistent set of rules.
No blog is a free-for-all and if you are the ultimate arbiter of information on it, then you are the editor-in-chief and can make the ultimate editorial decisions.
Just be sure that your decisions are clear, well thought out and transparent. In other words, you need a set of guidelines.
You also need to examine what you want the blog to be. If your goal is to provide an unvarnished example of student thought, then this post would fit. If it’s to provide a certain look into student life or to just act as a learning experience for both you and them, then use this as that experience.
This isn’t just about you and your blog, but about the student and what he is putting out. If you simply ask the question: is this what other students to think about you? it may solve some of your dilemma.
September 9th, 2009 at 7:49 am -
Teresa Basich said:
Dear In a Pickle,
Blogs, by nature, are all about freedom of speech. But a blog for an institution…well, how much freedom do you give contributors? I’ve read some great ideas in the comments here and the ones seemed would be most effective (for both students/bloggers and the school) are:
- Add a disclaimer
- Create a set of guidelinesBy adding a disclaimer you remove a certain amount of responsibility for the posts off the school — which isn’t such a bad thing because you *did* ask for contributions from students, not from staff, and while they are attending that institution, they didn’t sign any sort of form saying they were representatives of the school brand.
If this is a blog that combines both staff and student commentary, I’d say it might be worth it to create a set of guidelines. They don’t have to be stringent or overly restrictive, but basic rules that put a damper on swearing and certain judgments might help control the tone of the content. Guidelines don’t have to be shackles, they can be manageable to work with (many of us do it regularly in the companies we work for). I bet those who feel too restricted by them won’t contribute while those who can write within the confines of the guidelines and not feel stifled will happily keep posting.
In this case, I’d say publish the article with a disclaimer. If this is a “For Students, By Students” blog, it should stay as open as possible, but readers should be notified what they’re in for.
Good luck!
September 9th, 2009 at 9:45 am -
Marie said:
Dear in a Pickle,
If the student was originally given “free reign” to blog about whatever he/she wanted to blog about, then I think the best route would be to publish it. If the original intent was to give readers different student viewpoints, then that’s what you will be doing.As is the case with most blogs, some readers will like the post, others will not. I think moving forward; you could supply students with “blogging tips,” and include something related to over usage of profanity, etc. This way you won’t be censoring them, but simply offering a few suggestions to keep in mind.
September 9th, 2009 at 10:21 am -
Stephanie Trahd said:
Dear In a Pickle,
Who ‘owns’ the blog? In other words, whose Internet property does it reside on? If it is on a school-owned website, then a disclaimer, guidelines and a crisis communication plan are not out of line. Strongly consider the school’s vision for the site and the institution – that should determine your next steps.
You’re walking a fine line here, but you can do it successfully. The response from parents (the people paying the tuition), alumni (donors) and faculty (union staff) must also be considered –. business is business.
Each student blogger should be given the freedom to express him/herself in his/her own individual authentic voice. That being said, with freedom comes responsibility. Your guidelines can be simple (e.g. no personal agendas or attacks) while still allowing the students the freedom to express their true selves. A notice in the guidelines informing students that potential employers (and dates!) may see what they write could also produce the desired outcome.
Will you turn off some student bloggers who wanted to contribute? Maybe. But honestly, if a student can’t write a blog post without verbally assaulting another individual or using 150 of those 300 words on profanities, then what have you really lost? I am a passionate advocate for freedom of speech, but it is still a school-owned website. And every single student always has the freedom to express their completely unrestricted opinion by starting their own blog – without the school sending all of its traffic to it.
As far as the situation you are in at this moment, you can tell the student blogger that you jumped the gun a bit and that you do have some general guidelines to follow. Ask him to edit the piece based on your guidelines (if you believe it needs editing), because you still want it to be solely his.
Best wishes…Stephanie
September 9th, 2009 at 8:14 pm -
used tires said:
Dear In A Pickle,
In the first sentences in your email you said you were trying to create a real environment in the blogs, one that is not “unreal”, if you’re the blog is written by students, for students, in my opinion there is nothing wrong with a little bit of cussing involved. I would just let it go, if you are looking for a “real” response, then you can’t censor the guy and tell him he can’t say this or that. That’s just not realistic.
I am currently a college student, there are some professors that curse alot in class, while there are some that do absolutely zero cursing. Just some food for thought with that one.
Till then,
Jean
September 10th, 2009 at 9:18 am -
ATV Auction said:
To me this is an easy question. They should not let someone lower the quality of their blog with inappropriate posts. If they spend the time building something up, why would they let someone else ruin it? Even if you want to give that person a chance, you have to also have your own best interests in mind.
October 1st, 2009 at 6:26 pm -
PSP Go said:
Dear In a Pickle,
What type of students? University students? The let them go for it. Underage – perhaps let him know.
October 9th, 2009 at 4:08 pm -
Antalya evden eve nakliyat said:
hey should not let someone lower the quality of their blog with inappropriate posts. If they spend the time building something up, why would they let someone else ruin it?
December 28th, 2009 at 11:27 am -
Generic online said:
Just ask him to tone it down a little – you can say the same things in less offensive ways. This doesn’t make it any less real, just more accessible
January 15th, 2010 at 3:20 pm
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