Earlier this year, 2017, I passed a curious milestone. I have now been blogging on this domain for over a decade. Many of those who know me might have the impression that I’m a fairly honorable and trustworthy individual, making “unethical blogger” a confusing banner to operate under. I suppose I should shed some light on the origins.
The “Unethical Blogger” concept was originally a snarky response to some fervor over the bloggers getting paid to write blog posts. In this bygone era of the web, the notion that bloggers were JOURNALISTS was still en vogue. This notion was, of course, perpetuated by a number of semi-professional and professional bloggers who fancied themselves the heirs to 21st century journalism. The discussion among some “Web 2.0 bloggers” turned to “blogging ethics” and that’s when I tossed my hands in the air and proclaimed that I was not an “ethical blogger,” for whatever “ethical blogging” might entail.
I feel fortunate to have continued to write over the past ten years, not for your sake but for mine. I can look back over a decade of my personal and professional life and smile at what I have, and haven’t, learned.
“Ethics” aside, I consider a blog to be the soap box from which you can lay claim to your thoughts, ideas, and experiences in the cacophony of noise that is the internet.