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10:33:00 AM EST
Hearing Dora the Explorer
Truthful Journals
In the wake of the possible hoax regarding an AOL Journaler's death, I've been getting some e-mail from people sending me links to other Journals they suspect are not entirely truthful, and questions as to whether such untruthfulness violates AOL's community standards or terms of service in some way. So let's talk about this for a second.
First: Lying in your Journal is not a violation of AOL's terms of services -- unless you are otherwise committing fraud. If I put up a Journal where I claimed to be an Alaskan mountain man writing entries from an ice floe where I was wrasslin' kodiak bears, it's no harm, no foul. If I did the same thing and asked you to send me money to support my wintery, ursine-battling lifestyle when in fact I was in Ohio, with no bears around at all, then I'd be in big trouble.
As I mentioned earlier, most people represent themselves reasonably accurately in their Journals or other blogs. But some people don't -- either they like writing fiction, or want to try on a new personality to see if they like it. Or they may be malicious and like the idea of playing with people's minds. However you slice it, "fake" bloggers are out there. As long as all they're doing is writing, there's not much you can do about it. You may not like it -- you may even think it's wrong -- but remember that it's someone else's Journal or blog. They can do what they like with their space.
The online world has always been a place where people feel free to reinvent themselves. Some people will take this to further extreme than others. Keep it in mind when you read -- and take time to get to know bloggers and Journalers you like.
Written by johnmscalzi Blog about this entry |
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You're are so very right Mr. Scalzi. People are never satisfied with who they really are and have to create the "perfect" on-line persona to make friends. Sad, but true. I don't understand it, but I accept it along with the all the other horrible stuff that comes everytime I log on. Part of life and all these other people need to get over it, grow up and move on. Thx for answering my email too. You're the greatest!..........Cassie
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Well said. Like always!
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wise advice for online novice like me. thanks.
so it's all up to us, readers, what to believe or not to believe when we read other journals. some people would belive more than others, cuz they just want to believe. actually it's always up to our mind..
11/18/03 3:02 AM
There have always been people who lie. I just need to stop trying to wrack my brain to figure out why someone would want to lie about dying and/or glamorize it by saying that death happened in a car accident with their dream man on their birthday! Oh well, that person may not have lost their life, but they surely died in the eyes of many AOL Journalers. "C'est la vie" and maybe "C'est la death" !