Over the last week, I've stumbled. A social site is blocking me from blogging. Well—not always. Three times so far, I haven't been able to post a blog on Facebook. This is the reason given: blocked because security systems detected it to be unsafe.
This made me stagger. What had I said? No way had I been incisive or talked about forbidden subjects.
On the 9th, the first blow came with this post.
This made me stagger. What had I said? No way had I been incisive or talked about forbidden subjects.
On the 9th, the first blow came with this post.
I figured out the word the search engines didn't like and nodded to myself. Understandable. In the future, I'd say it another way.
Then, on the 12th, another blow came.
Then, on the 12th, another blow came.
Ah, yes: the heading. Both words must have triggered an alarm. I should have thought about that.
Did I learn to check the words in my blog for alternate meanings? You guessed it—I didn't.
Yesterday, a blast made me stagger. What had I done? Oh, one word must have alerted the crawlers. How should I have phrased it? Inactivity is (***ling) causing our demise.
Did I learn to check the words in my blog for alternate meanings? You guessed it—I didn't.
Yesterday, a blast made me stagger. What had I done? Oh, one word must have alerted the crawlers. How should I have phrased it? Inactivity is (***ling) causing our demise.
These three knock-backs could make me stop blogging, or continue, watching where I put my feet on the road ahead.
People still visited the posts in question, but they couldn't comment. So there was no harm done, was there?
Well, as you know, comments make a blogger's effort worthwhile. When real people express understanding or show awareness of the news subject I'm writing about, I feel fulfilled.
90% of comments are earned, though. It's a case of you scratch my back (comment on my blog) and I'll scratch yours. Do I really want to spend my precious time reading about a product that someone's paid to write about, just so others in the chain will read my point of view? As an aside, not all blogs work this way. Some contain good content. (You know who you are.)
In this case, the first lesson learned is to withdraw from several blog groups on Facebook. The other is to switch my comments back to the original style and not Facebook, which looks good, but gives them exclusivity. Anyway, I'm not sure how a person could comment if they don't have an account. One clever reader sent me a message through the 'contact me' section.
The main lesson I need to learn is to check what I write. So many words in the English language have several meanings and, as a novelist, I'm not used to censoring my words. But, if I want to continue blogging, that's what I'll have to do.
That brings into question whether I should go on.
The discipline of writing every day helps me as a novelist. Also, some news subjects need to be discussed. We can learn from them, just as we can learn from the knocks we receive in life.
If you trip over a rock in your path, stand up, brush off the grime, and continue toward your goal.I've just changed back to default comments, so all 8 Facebook comments have been wiped off. Hope I don't regret it.
People still visited the posts in question, but they couldn't comment. So there was no harm done, was there?
Well, as you know, comments make a blogger's effort worthwhile. When real people express understanding or show awareness of the news subject I'm writing about, I feel fulfilled.
90% of comments are earned, though. It's a case of you scratch my back (comment on my blog) and I'll scratch yours. Do I really want to spend my precious time reading about a product that someone's paid to write about, just so others in the chain will read my point of view? As an aside, not all blogs work this way. Some contain good content. (You know who you are.)
In this case, the first lesson learned is to withdraw from several blog groups on Facebook. The other is to switch my comments back to the original style and not Facebook, which looks good, but gives them exclusivity. Anyway, I'm not sure how a person could comment if they don't have an account. One clever reader sent me a message through the 'contact me' section.
The main lesson I need to learn is to check what I write. So many words in the English language have several meanings and, as a novelist, I'm not used to censoring my words. But, if I want to continue blogging, that's what I'll have to do.
That brings into question whether I should go on.
The discipline of writing every day helps me as a novelist. Also, some news subjects need to be discussed. We can learn from them, just as we can learn from the knocks we receive in life.
If you trip over a rock in your path, stand up, brush off the grime, and continue toward your goal.I've just changed back to default comments, so all 8 Facebook comments have been wiped off. Hope I don't regret it.
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