By: Robin
These past few months' editorials and the like have been
cropping up all over the place like weeds on the SMNet (as
it has been dubbed). I'm joining the fray simply to be
hypocritical and point out a fact that not everyone has
noticed, or if they have, they've just not said anything
about it because they simply won't be backed up on it. Most
editorials are taking an extreme negative tune to them, and
it's a nasty thing to read. Now, I'm fond of editorials,
and most of them are very well written, and some are even
to the extent, humorous. But more than needed, they
consistently point fingers, and snark at another
person/group endlessly.
Now, where faces cannot be seen, words are more powerful
than actions. And as this editorial fade is catching fire,
bruised egos and hurt feelings will emerge. Now, I'm not
saying that some of them aren't well deserved, but
please... lighten up! You can only carp about something so
much until the crowd goes elsewhere.
I'm going to sound hypocritical, but I'm trying to see both
sides of the argument. We've all finally found a medium
that allows us to justify our right to vent our angers. And
it's wonderful to be able to write whatever the hey hell we
want down, and spew it out to the rest of the net,
sometimes purposely offending, sometimes not.
And then, to the people who feel like the medium is being
used against them *cough*SOS*hack*Dub-fans*wheeze*... well,
it's not so chirpy. And it won't be long before there will
be more editorials like mine, screaming the wrongs of
editorials themselves! And that, will be truly taking the
cake as the biggest moronic happenings in SMNet history.
Now, please don't get me wrong, I love reading editorials.
It gives me bigger insight to who's going to blows with
who, and why everyone is so uptight, yadda yadda. And I
suppose, if I wanted to, I *could* take extreme offence to
some things that are said, and I suppose I *could* snigger
at the misfortune of someone else who came under fire.
But, take caution of what you say! One of the variations of
this saying goes "You will get more with honey than you
will with vinegar." It's important not to spread more anger
and unease with editorials about the anger and unease
spreading!
Anyway, I have put together a few tips that could be taken
into consideration when both reading, and writing
editorials.
For reading one:
- Read with an open mind. If you get offended, wait a
while, and then write a *calm* letter to the author if you
really need to.
- Respect the author's opinion. This is a... partially
free world, and they can say whatever they want.
- Don't automatically assume that the editorial is
directed at you. Most likely it isn't unless it blatantly
states "This means you, (insert your name here)!!!" But
most people don't do that because it's rude.
- If you don't like what's said, don't go spreading nasty
rumors that the author is a complete nincompoop with the
brains of sheep!
For writing one:
- Okay, something got you riled up, right? So write a
really angry editorial, and use swearwords if you really
need too. Some of the best first drafts of any angry letter
have consisted of only "F*** off and die!"
- After your first draft, wait a few days, and *then* go
back and write a calm and rational one. Want to take bets
which version of the editorial will be most respected?
- Be nice to your readers. Don't call them morons, or
idiots, or anything else you weren't supposed to say in
grade 1. Note, grade 1! You don't like to be called that,
so why should anyone else have to take it either?
- Get someone to proof read it, and not only for spelling
and grammar. Ask someone who isn't biased at all (someone
IRL for example), to read it and give you an outsider
opinion on whether they think you'll offend the masses, or
only a select group. Ask for constructive criticism, and
review your editorial.
- Don't be petty! That's... well, immature. And it's only
promoting what we all want to stop, right?
Whew! That's a lot of work, no? Well, if you just want to
skip all of it, just write any old thing. This is only my
opinion. But don't come whining in another editorial about
how flamers don't respect you.
Being offensive is downright mean, and evil. I read
recently that surfers don't give a hootenanny about the
author of the page. That offended me to no end. It's our
page, right? We can put what we want.
Oh... and I'd just like to say... HI MOM!
Comments on this article can be sent to:
Robin.
