Originally published on Kiki and Tea August 6th, 2015
A few years ago when I was much newer to blogging and guest posting, I wrote a post that had a bit of a click bait headline. It wasn’t too “out there” but it was certainly designed to be a bit controversial. And it worked. People read it. People commented on it.
Why I Don’t Always Share My Opinion Online
Only I found it was of no personal value to me. Why? To me, it only felt like people were interested in the headline and didn’t actually read the article. Yes, I expressed an unpopular opinion and no, I didn’t expect everyone to agree with me. Disagreements are fine. But it felt like no one actually read the article – I acknowledged the inconsistencies in my argument but the article was literally only about me and my life. Not about anyone else’s life. Not about the life of people overseas. My life.
The article was a learning curve for me.
I haven’t written in quite the same way since. Not out of censorship, but out of choosing my audience. I love a good debate. I don’t want to agree with everyone and I don’t want everyone to agree with me. But I do expect that people read and reply intelligently, not just comment with a knee-jerk reaction.
Is that too much to expect online? Is it easier to have a serious and difficult debate in person? Do you share your opinion online? Have you ever had a bad reaction to your headline?
