You can call this an expression of anguish or higher grade of 'some form of' chauvinism, but really I don't care. It is my view of the issue and I don't care what you feel about it.
I am assuming that many of you would be familiar with tone expressed in the above lines and would have encountered it at some place or the other. Either directly in a blog, social media or even more commonly in personal discussions. I used to find open letters/satirical remarks amusing and always liked the tone that they used to convey the message. But the recent turn of events that I witnessed up close has led me to critically look at these remarks once more and look at both sides of opinion on the said matter.
There were so many mixed feelings that were pent up in my mind and I was unsure how to express it out in public. On the one hand there were some really serious issues that such outbursts pointed to and on the other there was that misrepresentations that get magnified. I was weighing out the pros and cons of each statement that I make and wanted to make sure that I have a balanced opinion about the whole issue. Also with the huge amount of haters and sympathizers attached with each issue, making yet another blog entry on it seemed to be ridiculous. But at some point somebody told me that, with each blog creating a permanent mark in the webspace, it would be worthwhile to express your own opinion on the issue.
So here goes my take on the public outbursts happening in the social media.
So here goes my take on the public outbursts happening in the social media.
Dear Writer/Commentator,
It is with great regret that I am writing this letter. I have always felt that an individual's view on any topic is sacred and should be respected. However when you broadcast it through a medium like internet, then we also share the responsibility of being judicious in our commentary and bring in various point of views on the issue at some point or the other. This is critical in the current "breaking and sensational" bite sized life, as the way we present the information actually shapes the public opinion on an issue. So before you vent your feeling out in public, do take some time to think of some of the long range impacts that your action might have. Three salient points comes to my mind about these open letters, which I am writing openly in this blog. And let me put in the caveat well in advance: This letter will not judge you by what you have done till now or what you are going to do in future.
It is true that there might be a valid case of oppression/wrongful treatment/or some other bad experience that you would want to share with the world. But first of all, be sure that you are not taking out a personal vendetta on the people concerned. Do understand that we are all humans who can err. Doing something in haste can often cause some unwanted impacts and scenarios when the whole matter is blown out of proportion.
In addition, this also projects an image of yours for the whole wide world to interpret [But most of the times, the authors do not worry about this]. So rather than going on the personal track it would be far better if one could focus on the major issue at hand and vent out feelings.
Secondly look at some of the possible convenient solutions to address the personal issue that is currently burning in your mind. Can a dialogue with the perpetrator(s) end this? If yes, do that at the earliest. Weigh out the pro's and cons of the issue. Discuss with mature and intelligent people around you who will understand the issue and give you their wise counsel [Oh and if you don't have such people, then that really sums it up]. And most importantly look for a divergent view which will help you to rationalize your argument. Go for a public rant only after this and all your counselors are quite sure that the problem-creator(s) aren't reasonable and sane individual(s) and there are no other possible solutions at your disposal. This would give you sufficient time to understand the various vantage points and prepare a mature response to the case at hand.
And finally, do select the right words to express your angst. Make sure howsoever angry you are, you do not use abusive/disrespectful words in your public commentary. These words are never meant to be passable, whatever be the context. Also make sure you do not let yourself be victim of misrepresentation or misquoting. In most cases, one might be a personal victim due to which there are high chances of emotions running high. But this does not give us a carte blanche to go all out on the opposition. In this state each and every word of yours runs a high risk of misrepresentation (either intentional or unintentional). And as I mentioned earlier, this is projecting a wrong image about you in front of the world [Oh, yeah!! Even of the people who don't care about this].
To conclude, I think that whatever I said is just touching on the surface of a broader issue. Let me remind once again that I am not passing a judgement on any one of you because after all each person is a free individual and can express his/her views the way they please. What I said are some of the possible measures that you (as a commentator) can take to avoid creating enmity among your social circle. Also it helps you to be well-informed and avoid treading the wrong path towards constructive criticism.
Yours Truly,
Another Open Letter Writer
P.S: In case you have difference of opinion on the above topic, do post it in comments. I will definitely read and understand your point of view and respond back within a month. [ Oh yeah, like many other bloggers I too have a busy schedule which will not let me respond immediately :D]
Edit 1:
The author has been a culprit of horrendous/confusing status messages and comments. So in a way this is a post coming out of good and valuable lessons learnt about some good etiquettes to maintain in social forums.
