Allow Me to Elaborate
Holy buckets, the past 48 hours have been chaotic. For those of you who have read my latest Cardboard magazine article, this post is especially for you. If you haven't read it, here ya go: http://cardboardmagazine.wordpress.com/2013/03/27/i-used-to-love-red/
When my friend and fellow staff writer told me to write a Cardboard article about how I was feeling about all of the Facebook crap that is currently happening, I opened up a Word document within five minutes. Tom told me to "channel my anger," so I did to the best of my ability. It all kind of spilled out in less than twenty minutes, leaving me to do a bit of copy editing and then email it to him. It's only been up for a few hours, and already people are reacting in varying degrees of anger, frustration, and appreciation. Awesome. :)
Since I don't think that Facebook is really a good place to discuss my intentions when I wrote the post, I decided to blog about it here, giving me the chance to edit it before putting it out for all of you to read. With that being said, allow me to elaborate.
College has taught me to think for myself, which is pretty much the point of this place. Unlike some people, however, I have discovered that my views are quite moderate on a lot of issues as opposed to becoming more liberal like some of my close friends or more conservative like I grew up with. On the issue of gay marriage and relationships, I do have an opinion. I am still going to avoid stating it, though, because that was never my purpose and I am not out to change people's views. All I will say is that I am not an extremist on this topic.
When I posted the link to my article on my Facebook wall, I got more of a response than I had expected. Usually when I post something that I have written, I don't really hear from anyone unless it is in a message or face to face. That is fine with me. So when I logged in tonight and saw that a couple of people were upset and offended by what I had written, it made me rather sad.
Correct me if I am wrong, but I do not believe that my article took either side more than the other. Part of learning to identify myself as a moderate (as well as having some dear friends at college who state their opinions openly on a regular basis) has been discerning when it is necessary to actually speak out about my own views. In addition, Professor Sowienski has taught me over the past 9 months that good journalists--especially when reporting facts--should try their hardest not to take a side. It has been a long process of editing, talking with my classmates who have become trusted friends, and editing some more. I am not perfect at it, but I can say that my reporting has improved immensely. I mean, let's be honest: my main strength has always been the personal essay, which requires you to express your opinion clearly and passionately.
With these things in mind, I ask you this: did I truly write things that take a side on this issue? My goal was to vent about how Facebook is not the proper place for such discussions, as well as to point out that just because you can re post a picture does not make you an activist for an injustice in the world.
Maybe this post is rambling--sorry if it is. What I am trying to say here is this: if I made you think, fantastic. If I made you uncomfortable because you realized that your approach towards this issue has been less than ideal, I'm glad. But if I offended you or made you uncomfortable because what I said appeared to be biased or slanderous towards another person, I am sincerely sorry and I want to apologize to you.
I hope this made sense and that it clears up some things for at least one person.
When my friend and fellow staff writer told me to write a Cardboard article about how I was feeling about all of the Facebook crap that is currently happening, I opened up a Word document within five minutes. Tom told me to "channel my anger," so I did to the best of my ability. It all kind of spilled out in less than twenty minutes, leaving me to do a bit of copy editing and then email it to him. It's only been up for a few hours, and already people are reacting in varying degrees of anger, frustration, and appreciation. Awesome. :)
Since I don't think that Facebook is really a good place to discuss my intentions when I wrote the post, I decided to blog about it here, giving me the chance to edit it before putting it out for all of you to read. With that being said, allow me to elaborate.
College has taught me to think for myself, which is pretty much the point of this place. Unlike some people, however, I have discovered that my views are quite moderate on a lot of issues as opposed to becoming more liberal like some of my close friends or more conservative like I grew up with. On the issue of gay marriage and relationships, I do have an opinion. I am still going to avoid stating it, though, because that was never my purpose and I am not out to change people's views. All I will say is that I am not an extremist on this topic.
When I posted the link to my article on my Facebook wall, I got more of a response than I had expected. Usually when I post something that I have written, I don't really hear from anyone unless it is in a message or face to face. That is fine with me. So when I logged in tonight and saw that a couple of people were upset and offended by what I had written, it made me rather sad.
Correct me if I am wrong, but I do not believe that my article took either side more than the other. Part of learning to identify myself as a moderate (as well as having some dear friends at college who state their opinions openly on a regular basis) has been discerning when it is necessary to actually speak out about my own views. In addition, Professor Sowienski has taught me over the past 9 months that good journalists--especially when reporting facts--should try their hardest not to take a side. It has been a long process of editing, talking with my classmates who have become trusted friends, and editing some more. I am not perfect at it, but I can say that my reporting has improved immensely. I mean, let's be honest: my main strength has always been the personal essay, which requires you to express your opinion clearly and passionately.
With these things in mind, I ask you this: did I truly write things that take a side on this issue? My goal was to vent about how Facebook is not the proper place for such discussions, as well as to point out that just because you can re post a picture does not make you an activist for an injustice in the world.
Maybe this post is rambling--sorry if it is. What I am trying to say here is this: if I made you think, fantastic. If I made you uncomfortable because you realized that your approach towards this issue has been less than ideal, I'm glad. But if I offended you or made you uncomfortable because what I said appeared to be biased or slanderous towards another person, I am sincerely sorry and I want to apologize to you.
I hope this made sense and that it clears up some things for at least one person.
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