Blogs Don't Kill People....

Shooting one's self in the foot literally would probably have to be accomplished with a firearm. Accidentally doing so with a bow and arrow is harder to imagine, aside from maybe during a scene in a slap-stick movie. The action of a bow is simply too painstaking and deliberate. Likewise composing, writing and mailing an angry letter which scars you for life requires an disproportionate amount of deliberation compared to, say, writing a quick email which is then forwarded to thousands of people instantly. This could be compared to an semi-automatic, to stretch my shot foot analogy.

That would make an Internet Weblog analogous to an AK-47. Excepting that they are available to the general public. For free.

I've never fired a fully automatic weapon, but I suppose you don't have to aim very much. Say there's a Hummer to the left of the guy you want to kill and an Escalade on his right. You just notice which SUV you're shooting and move your left arm accordingly.

Before this hijacked and strained analogy breaks down further, let me hot wire another one. You've heard many times the slogan Guns don't kill people, people kill people. There is truth in that, but the saying shouldn't be used carelessly. The availability of a weapon can obviously facilitate a disastrous event. An acquaintance of mine who had trouble holding down a job had been going through a difficult time in his life. He had an offer for a security guard position and he had the experience. But it would have required him to possess and carry a sidearm. In a discussion, he leveled with me, "I just can't have a gun in my house right now."

That's somewhat like a danger I've noticed with some bloggers. They might do better without a blog in their possession. My experience is that it occurs especially to those who write what I call a "kitchen sink blog". You have a blog which gives your opinion on everything that enters your thoughts, no matter how, well..... questionable is the word I'll use, and pretty soon you're doing nothing more than reacting spasmodically. You hear the story of the rape of a teenager and it involves her "My Space" page so you scribble off something like "THE INTERNET MUST BE SHUT DOWN!". On your internet blog. Missing the irony completely.

That's a manufactured example, to be sure, and maybe not the best. So here's another example. A blogger throws an temper tantrum in multiple blogposts about someone who disagreed with his friend, Dave, by saying something like, "Dave must have been having a severely blond moment not to have thought through the implications of his ridiculous idea." In the midst of the blogger's written fit, a theory is advanced by him or a third-party comboxer that goes something like this: "Wow, it's pretty clear that Dave really, really touched a nerve with this monkey-headed-ass-brain."

I would suggest that is clear that someones nerve has been really, really touched. Really. And it's fairly clear whose.

My conclusions? First: if you criticize a critic for criticizing you should prepare for some criticism. Second: at the very least, please develop a better sense of irony whether or not you have a decent sense of humor.