Blogging has been made a student favorite. I know of many students who blogged. I even know of teachers who blog actually. Some classes have group blogs. And some people started hate-blogs. There are just too many examples and I’m just lazy to slot in the links.
A lot of students (once, me inclusive) think of a blog as a personal space that you can write anything you want. It’s your opinion and it’s your freedom to write what you want. Of course, I know there would be bound to have some restrictions but today, it would only seem that blogging is much more restricted than what Singaporeans would think.
It’s funny. Numerous people who publishes posts on their blogs don’t want anyone to be viewing their blog. It kinda go against the very reason to own an online blog actually. An online blog isn’t what they want, they want instead a journal from Microsoft Outlook or something. Unless you manage to lock up your diary with some password or something, your blog can still be found! So stop perceiving privacy.
Sometimes, they would give the links of their blog to their close friends. The close friend links up the blog to his or hers and - tadah - there goes your privacy. You may be bitching about the girl who wore g-strings to school and may be writing all things offensive about her character. Then one day, she just check out a friend’s blog and link and link and link to your blog!
Schools act against students for ‘flaming’ teachers on blogs
The message has been sent out loud and clear, with five junior college students being punished for posting offensive remarks about two teachers and a vice-principal online.
The students, all girls, were made to remove the remarks from their Internet diaries, or blogs, and suspended for three days last month.
One such remark referred to a secondary school teacher as a “prude”: for disciplining a student for wearing a too-short skirt. “Frustrated old spinster. Can’t stand to see attractive girls,” the blog read.
Source: The Straits Times, published on Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Yes! You can get sued even. Recently 2 guys just got sued as they are writing racist comments I think. I didn’t really follow up on that news. Blogging is not as safe as you think. The girls are just trying to express their displeasure. Unfortunately, publishing something in the world wide web is the wrong method. I can assure you there are lots of people who has blogged about their teachers saying they are gay or pairing them up with another teacher. I’ve seen insults of their friends and many more.
I now sit in front of my computer feeling a little afraid. My blog can be a victim too. I don’t want to be sued. If I blogged about something that is against the law, do tell me about it, I’ll do something about it.
I hope you guys be more careful too. I am trying not to blog about my friends nowadays for the same reason, I am gradually stopping just gossipping since a year ago. But I can’t help but to write some stuff about my friends as this is a personal blog.
Tags: blogging, internet, opinion, privacy, site related
yeah… this is so sick. we can’t post what we want to say anymore
by Milky (Sep 28, 2005 at 12 AM)Mr Dew: that is why I post never about me or others on my blog?
No private news, only technical stuff 
by Nafcom (Sep 28, 2005 at 12 AM)Milky: We need to be more careful. There was once when blogging is just so simple and fun. Now there is more to consider for personal blogs.
Nafcom: I know, you’re pretty much safe, hahaa…
by Mr. Dew (Sep 28, 2005 at 6 AM)Mr Dew: Speaking about “safe”:
Hopefully it won’t happen that the bloggers die out, rubber makes it hard to breathe
Haha, that is a master piece of humour!
by Nafcom (Sep 28, 2005 at 7 AM)slander is against the law i guess, but doesn’t SG still have freedom of speech? If that happened here, that’s what they’d use to defend themselves
but then again, why would I wanna bitch about G-string girl
by pketh (Sep 28, 2005 at 7 AM)ack.
by aurora_starfire (Sep 28, 2005 at 11 PM)We can’t say what we want?
I only taked about my teachers a couple of times,and they were nice comments. I don’t write out people’s names (or I try not to,at least).
I have this paranoid fear that someone I know could link my blog to everyone in my family or something. I wonder how people found these kids’ blogs.
IMHO, web logs ‘deteriorated’ into blogs. Ethics aside, most (personal) blogs do not offer anything constructive (mine included) but as a medium to vent the emotions. Ranting is the most common thing to do in a blog these days, especially if they are written by teenagers. This is a good read. The author offers illustrative reasons to his rant.
While freedom of speech is a good thing, it must be used responsibly. Inflicting discord on fragile issues like race or religion by posting inane blogs with racial/relgious slur is, at any rate, irresponsible.
by Event Horizon (Sep 28, 2005 at 11 PM)@pketh: Singapore must have a freedom of speech somehow. In contrast to China, in Singapore my blog is accessable!
And this is no joke. None of my icq contacts from China can access my blog! My blog is in the Chinese ISP filters!
(I wonder how I got into there, hahaha).
by Nafcom (Sep 29, 2005 at 3 AM)pketh: I like to think that Singapore has “Freedom of Speech (Limited Edition)”. We have such things, but it is never as strong as creator’s, i.e. Americans.
aurora_starfire: As for good comments about teachers, the teacher may not like it too as he or she is mentioned in the blog. I tend not to write people’s names unless they are celebrities themselves.
Event Horizon: Most blogs are personal ones and it’s just to rant. I rant too, but I know my limits. I don’t rant something against a race, not that I have any in the first place.
Nafcom: We do have them to a certain extend but I don’t think they cover defamations and stuff. Many Singaporeans are nonconservative on the outside but gets hurt once they spotted a bad comment on a blog or something. And yeah, we have little of such filters.
by Mr. Dew (Sep 29, 2005 at 5 AM)Mr Dew: As long as I don’t get filtered in your filter systems of ISPs
by Nafcom (Sep 29, 2005 at 8 AM)I have no idea why I gor in the ones of China
Nafcom: Don’t worry, you won’t I believe. I don’t think you would offend our government; they like foreign talents.
by Mr. Dew (Sep 30, 2005 at 6 AM)Mr Dew: That’s a relief to hear, but neither did I offend any Chineses…
by Nafcom (Sep 30, 2005 at 8 PM)