Landing in London proper more than a few years ago, I got the cook’s tour, courtesy of my husband, who was on a business assignment there. One of the stops was Speakers’ Corner, at an entrance to Hyde Park not far from where we were staying. My husband explained that anyone — any man, woman, or child — could, at Speakers’ Corner, hold forth about any subject that struck his or her fancy. Furthermore, he or she could speak as long as he/she liked, within reason. “Reason” went undefined at that point, but I’d later learned that “reason” had to conform to English law.
My husband ended this explanation with a sidelong glance at me. “Just promise me you won’t be regaling everyone ad infinitum with your take on the current music scene.”
I admit, I’d been slightly offended by that admonition. If U.S. legislators, whose salaries were paid by American taxpayers, could filibuster to their hearts’ content … and to the vexation of those with opposing views … and if the U.S. government was based upon Great Britain’s Parliament, why couldn’t I speak for an hour or so about a topic near and dear to my heart?  P.S., There was so much to do and see in London that I never made it back to Speakers’ Corner, although I did return to spend a pleasant hour or so inside the very green Hyde Park.
I’d actually loved the whole idea of Speaker’s Corner. “What a fine testament to the power of free speech!” I’d thought. This, of course, was several years before the Internet was destined to invade our lives, and several more years before every Tom, Dick, and Harry had, quote, published himself, unquote, via a blog.
You’re reading this and chuckling, “Hey, Kat, aren’t you writing a blog?” Well, yes and no. I contribute to this website as time allows. And when I do contribute, I don’t set out to destroy someone’s career, although there are a slew of politicians and record label execs I wouldn’t mind seeing on the unemployment line. I don’t create controversy for the sake of garnering online “hits.” And I don’t use this site, or any other for that matter, as a means of stroking my ego.
“Goodie for you,” You’re saying. “God will plant a halo over your head when you kick.”  Well, if so, let’s hope you’ll be there to see it!  🙂
The inspiration for this particular article was a simple request I’d received from a friend … except that it wasn’t all that simple. She’d wanted me to visit a particular website, to give it a “hit” and post a comment about someone in the public eye that I happen to greatly respect. This was so that my friend and I could promote that public person’s latest accomplishments.
The problem was, that I knew that the blog in question had vehemently turned on this public person in the past. And when the blogger saw her Google ranking descending as a direct result of too much vitriol spat from her keyboard, she decided to make nice to the artist in question in order to lure more viewers to her plummeting site. And guess what? The viewers bit!
The artist I follow is not the sole artist that the blogger has targeted in such a manner. And yes, it’s still a free county, thank God, so she’s entitled to exercise her right to free speech. But this is quite a bit different than pontificating, for example, at Speakers’ Corner or similar locales, where one’s words escape into the ether unless a passer-by or two happens to take them to heart.
Once committed to writing, words have power. Words can promote careers or damage them. Words can heal or hurt.  Words can uplift and destroy, particularly when they appear in written form. Adults should know this instinctively (many, obviously don’t). Children, especially, should be taught these truths. We’ve all heard the terrible stories of teens committing suicide because another kid or group of kids has gone gunning for them — not with pistols, but with words on the Internet: words immediately accessible by people worldwide, words that then get copied and bandied hither and yon about the ‘net.
This article could go on for as long as, well, the now restricted practice of filibustering. But don’t worry, it won’t! :-) We can walk away from know-it-alls, cruel bastards, and other ne’er-do-wells when they sound off in public (real, physical space, not cyberspace). We can whisper behind their backs if we are so inclined (I’m not; I prefer face to face confrontation). We can label these yutzes as “yentas” or worse, and thus lay tracks to make tracks away from them in the future.
On the Internet, however, there is no respite from malicious, lying tongues; no sanctuary from the rumor mongers. We can navigate away from the offending sites, yes. And as we do, someone, somewhere has already downloaded, emailed, viral you-tubed, and/or printed the words from those malicious, lying tongues to trot out for future harm.
“They” don’t issue licenses to future parents. So I suppose I shouldn’t be too surprised that “they” don’t issue licenses to bloggers whose primary intent is to hurt others for the sake of high Google rankings. Oh, but how I wish “they” would!Â
