Some thoughts about blog privacy.
From my experience and other's experiences I've learned that one probably should limit (or censor) the information one posts about other people by asking for permissions first. I think that there is a definite unspoken rule among all of us that says something to the affect of -- "It is unconscionable to publish Private Information without the express permission of the owner. Private Information is defined as any information that you received from dealings with a person or persons in a private, semi-private, family, business, classroom, club, religiously centered, etc. setting. Violators of this rule will be subject to a variety of consequences both fair and unfair in a swift and not necessarily just fashion." Everything else that's not private to someone else -- like things going on in your head or in your life that aren't a part of someone's private life -- should be published without too much worry.
I think that calling this censorship is a bit wrong though. I think that the right to free speech and the arguments against censorship have more to do with ideas; criticism of organizations and public figures; and self expression. Acting as an uncalled witness against (or even for – in some cases) someone other than yourself, your minor children, or consenting friends and acquaintances is definitely not necessary or "right" unless you feel you have some sort of moral obligation to society to tell their story. I think that [acting as an uncalled witness] is more like gossiping, actually.
Censorship is when some outside power edits or restricts your speech, right? You're talking about restraint, in this case restraint caused by accepted social values.
Posted by: John at October 15, 2003 12:18 AMGood point. I completely missed that when I was thinking about this, which was a response to two seperate blogs that I saw that were mentioning these issues.
I guess the reason that these people (and I) felt that it was a sort of censorship was because they felt that they had to show restraint... else face some sort of undesirable consequence from an outside source.
This leaves me wanting a third term then, which would mean -- (verb) showing restraint for fear of a perceived eventual consequence such as condemnation, harrassment, or censorship