Comments on space of my own: We the Bloggers

i watched the program. it had a very myopic approa...

2008-02-25T23:22:00.000-09:00

i watched the program. it had a very myopic approach to the issue of blogging. when i thought that the show was going to throw light at some unsaid, unsung facts the show reached a premature end.

thats been the case with all the 'we the people' shows. they end abruptly without delving on some important facets. i do not question barkha's prowess. im extremely fond of her. just that this show was shaped as per her point of view and not the world view. this shouldnt have been the case.

though i had my good friend vikram in the show. i feel that the questions asked to him could have been more intense. i dont understand the relation between blog monitoring and revelation of a gay orientation. i mean, we are talking about official cyber blog patrolling, isnt it?. how does vikram's mom and dad come into teh picture.

barkha could have a saparate show on 'candid blog confessions'.
as for this show, the tittle and the discussion had no connect.

blogging for me has been one of the most rejuvinating excercises. its a vent for my love and manier times, my frustration.

thanks for this post bhumika. the responses on this show are varied, but one things sure, unanimously,this post deinitely makes a good read.

smiles:-)
aham

The show was indeed a disappointment!

2008-02-18T00:00:00.000-09:00

The show was indeed a disappointment!

I really hate Barkha Dutt - agreed she did a great...

2008-02-05T18:41:00.000-09:00

I really hate Barkha Dutt - agreed she did a great job at Kargil; but eversince, I feel she has been placed on some sort of unnecessary pedestal and always approaches situations with a condescending attitude.

In fact, I feel as if the entire NDTV team has lost its core values and is now moving towards main stream money making.

Barkha, especially, never approaches a topic neutrally; her opinions & biases tend to affect the flow of discussions which renders the entire exercise useless.

Writing about sex, or one's sexula preferences & experiences is in no way bad - if it was, the first guy to be crucified should be Vatsyayan.

I think a lot of us (ppl like Raj Thackeray, Barkha Dutt & Sharad Pawar) believe in their opinions more than anything else and are in fortunate position where they can have their way.

boo...you're on the very verge of being pushed out...

2008-02-04T07:30:00.000-09:00

boo...you're on the very verge of being pushed out of my 'must check for updates everyday' blog list.

Stop milking the same post over and over - lets have some new thoughts...

Why don’t you suggest a topic...let’s see if somet...

2008-01-30T20:21:00.000-09:00

Why don’t you suggest a topic...let’s see if something interesting emerges

may i request for a new post please...

2008-01-30T04:32:00.000-09:00

may i request for a new post please...

Hi Gauri, great to see you on my blog :)"i miss a ...

2008-01-29T20:17:00.000-09:00

Hi Gauri, great to see you on my blog :)

"i miss a lot of barkha dutt and sardesai talks by choice.. feel they are bent on geering conversations to a pre-decided point of their own all the time"

yeah, i feel the same. But some shows like the debate here is worth watching as it provokes another debate...

it's indeed ironical that news media talks about censorship on blogs while it detests the same on itself. Under the veil of showcasing views of 'we, the people' it probably seems to advocate what it feels is right or wrong...

here for the first time, and the post caught my at...

2008-01-28T05:01:00.000-09:00

here for the first time, and the post caught my attention and kept it till the end... i missed tht! but then, i miss a lot of barkha dutt and sardesai talks by choice.. feel they are bent on geering conversations to a pre-decided point of their own all the time.. anyway.. wht a humbug question to base the debate on, anyway.. Media shouts about the suffocating censor if any vague effort is made at regularising the television media, especially the news, now gone to the dogs on the one side and then initiates talks of censor itself on the other.. cool antithesis..

LilOne / Neha: Sorry to burst your self-regulation...

2008-01-22T19:28:00.000-09:00

LilOne / Neha: Sorry to burst your self-regulation bubble - the 'deleted' comment had a spelling mistake which I noticed after posting :)
Its been deleted by me, not the owner of the blog...

well i would ve loved to make this academic :D :D ...

2008-01-22T19:11:00.000-09:00

well i would ve loved to make this academic :D :D :D but nevertheless.

u know sometimes the things that are MOST obvious, escape the eye. not because we overlook them, but perhaps because we dont want to see them.

a comment has been deleted on this comments page. if that is not a case of "self regulation" by the blogger wat is it??

it is regulation. its just that we dont call it so.

LilOne: Significance of blogs- agreed, its growing...

2008-01-22T10:37:00.000-09:00

LilOne:
Significance of blogs- agreed, its growing but it hasn't reached the level where organised regulation is required.

PS: And you write exactly like a lawyer - bet you were itching to put footnotes and annexures :)

Bhumika:

Even talking about regulating personal bogs is a waste of time- Oh, thats what you said about the ndtv debate ! :)
Parameters for regulation of blogs is going to become a bane for governments when blogs become strong enough...no simple solutions can be found

“Bhumika: 1. Absolutely against any kind of regula...

2008-01-21T20:58:00.000-09:00

“Bhumika:
1. Absolutely against any kind of regulations with respect to blogging
2. Did not appreciate the set up, format, panelists and meandering nature of debate in the show”

Swapnil, it’s the 2nd point that results in the 1st. The entire debate was limited to personal blogs, which is precisely the reason the whole question of ‘regulation’ seemed irrelevant. Had they brought into focus blogs like neha is mentioning here, I would perhaps have a different viewpoint.

Not many people take personal blogs seriously, unless they are blogs of some known people or are dedicated to a special cause.

“How do you define parameters for regulation in a globally accessible media?”

Important question and a tricky one too. Even in a visual medium where what’s decent and what’s indecent is more or less defined, the censor board has to go through the brunt time and again. I wonder if we can boil down to terms and conditions or whatever you may like to call it, when we talk about blogs – a globally accessible media.

“Against any kind of regulations with respect to blogging ?”

My point is – talk of regulation where you actually sense the threat. Talk of regulation for a medium which is highly influential and widespread in India. Look at your news channels – they show explicit pictures of riots, victims bathed in blood and all sorts of programmes supporting superstition. Why not have some kind of regulation for them. It’s a medium which has a greater reach, then why not bring up the question of regulating their content?

Blogs are still at a nascent stage, especially in India. To talk about regulation at this point is thus uncalled for.

"My Question: How do you define parameters for reg...

2008-01-21T19:28:00.000-09:00

"My Question: How do you define parameters for regulation in a globally accessible media? Someone across the world will always get hurt by what you write – ( its rhetorical, but a response would be interesting.)

Is it even significant enough to regulate blogs? True that some blogs have good readership, but even that would translate to say 300-400-500 hits a day (A personal blog). A miniscule percentage even from amongst roughly 0.01% of India’s population which has access to computers and the Internet. Do you really feel that blogs influence anyone, or any group significant enough to have a widespread impact?

My personal view is that I don’t take my blog seriously, it is a diary where I voice a lot of opinions but am not foolhardy enough to think that they make more than two minutes of impact (immediately after reading the post, and before the coffee comes  ). Maybe in time blogs would become instruments of sweeping change in opinion, but till that happens I think regulation would just be a waste of time and effort which could be utilized elsewhere more productively."

I need to answer your second query before coming back to the first. :)
u ask whether blogs are impactful enough that they need to be regulated at all. u might want to look at the youthforequality blog on blogspot. it started much before their community on orkut and was instrumental at the time of the fight by medical students in delhi against reservation in organising rallies across the country. u cant deny that our generation and the coming generation of kids are v. interent savy. they might not know how to use the normal hand held appliances, but they ll swear by the absolute necessity of internet in their lives. for them, fighting for a cause is signing internet petitions, donating "candles" on various websites (am also part of this group so i know) and making donations thru the web. for ppl like us and for the coming teeny tots, blogs ll become a major source of fight for a cause and fight till the end, i believe and feel.

when i talk about regulation, i dont talk about regulation personal blogs, which read like an everday diary. but there are quite a few blogs which exist with the sole purpose of create public awareness...etc. etc. some which cater to a large audience, which at a point we might even think impossible. but regulation for these blogs is suggested, but not mandatory.

there is a body called the ICANN which exists to look into domain name issues on the internet. it doesnt ve a proper office, it works thru networking on the web only, as much as i remember of wati read of it last. for regulation of blogs or nything on scyber space...i dont think u require somethin very fundamentally sophisticated....just simply some simple norms :)

Interesting debate... but a tad confusing. Could o...

2008-01-21T04:48:00.000-09:00

Interesting debate... but a tad confusing. Could one of you please confirm my interpretation:

Bhumika:
1. Absolutely against any kind of regulations with respect to blogging
2. Did not appreciate the set up, format, panelists and meandering nature of debate in the show

LilOne:
1. Believes that a certain level of regulation is mandatory in all walks of life, and hence also in blogging
a. My Question: How do you define parameters for regulation in a globally accessible media? Someone across the world will always get hurt by what you write – ( its rhetorical, but a response would be interesting.)
b. Nice point also about the person on the receiving end being the one who understands the significance of regulation.
2. Thought that a few questions that Bhumika shoots down as irrelevant, were pertinent.
a. Excellent observation about ‘going public’ in the Indian context i.e. not including parents. Its very true, whether we admit it or not.

My two cents…er…paise:
Is it even significant enough to regulate blogs? True that some blogs have good readership, but even that would translate to say 300-400-500 hits a day (A personal blog). A miniscule percentage even from amongst roughly 0.01% of India’s population which has access to computers and the Internet. Do you really feel that blogs influence anyone, or any group significant enough to have a widespread impact?

My personal view is that I don’t take my blog seriously, it is a diary where I voice a lot of opinions but am not foolhardy enough to think that they make more than two minutes of impact (immediately after reading the post, and before the coffee comes  ). Maybe in time blogs would become instruments of sweeping change in opinion, but till that happens I think regulation would just be a waste of time and effort which could be utilized elsewhere more productively.

Hi Shuma,Welcome to my blog and thanks for your ki...

2008-01-21T02:25:00.000-09:00

Hi Shuma,

Welcome to my blog and thanks for your kind comments :)

Incase you want to catch up with ‘We The People’, you can find some episodes on youtube. I agree – the quality has gone down.

“At least your post was articulate and posed some valid views and questions.”

Well, I’m glad it succeeded in initiating a healthy debate.

Hope to see you around...

I really like the passion in your writing. I don't...

2008-01-21T01:14:00.000-09:00

I really like the passion in your writing. I don't really get much opportunity to see ndtv (due to being based in the UK and not being available on regular TV), but have noticed the quality has somewhat gone down on the channel. At least your post was articulate and posed some valid views and questions.
:)

i am not being defensive. i am just playing the de...

2008-01-20T23:52:00.000-09:00

i am not being defensive. i am just playing the devils' advocate.

even before i joined law school i felt it, at times even in law school i felt that regulation n supervision is bad.

but the more u read about it, the more u realise that absolutely no regulation wud be death and stupid. efficient regulation is the key to making everything work optimally.

even freedom of speech HAS restrictions. and its provided in the constitution? that doesnt mean that no one has the right to speak. it might not always be implemented in the way desired, but at least the desireable regulation is in place in theory. implementation and good and efficient implementation is what we have to work towards.

but to not have regulation because we cant manage it at all or manage it v. badly is not a good enough justification to not have any kind of rule/ law or regulation in place.

i am against over regulation, over exposure, over use because i believe that kills an issue or a cause or anything. but there are more ills associated with not regulating at all rather than regulation. globalisation is one good example of it, i personally believe.

because there are no checks and balances, the entire process has become warped, and its just a case of the rich getting richer and poorer getting absolutely penniless. but we cant say that since the situation is improving for those whom it is improving, globalisation is good and therefore it shdnt be regulated, there shdnt be any laws related to it.

trust me that will be the death of the salaried society and all those below that economic strata, would simply disappear.

its an emotional issue because u r a blogger. it is an emotional issue for me also because i am a blogger. but u need to ensure a check on the emotions too in order to ensure that they ve an ambience, environment to live.

@kayIf the government doesn’t raise irrelevant iss...

2008-01-20T22:35:00.000-09:00

@kay

If the government doesn’t raise irrelevant issues, it ceases to be government. That’s their job, let them do it. Meanwhile, we shall continue to write!

@neha

I wish you’d seen the debate. You wouldn’t be so defensive.

"I was amazed that Barkha repeatedly asked this qu...

2008-01-20T22:06:00.000-09:00

"I was amazed that Barkha repeatedly asked this question to more than 3 bloggers. I wonder what she was trying to suggest. It might be her way of knowing how comfortable people are of making their personal life public but her tone didn’t suggest that. It seemed like any medium that gives us freedom of expression should be closely monitored, lest it becomes a trouble later."

u might want to consider that usually, making something "public" to us indians, more often than not means letting the world BUT our parents know. the anonymity on a far more personal level but perhaps be crowned as the best blogger in the world.

whether their parents read their blogs or not, is a question pertinent depending on the asnwer and ensuing discussions.

if they said "yes they read it and dont like it at all and call me mad and deplorable but i still go ahead with it because its me"....it wud ve made a difference. if they said that yes they do read my blog, and they ve no issues with it, that wud ve been "different" too.

i didnt watch the debate but even in spite of it, i do not feel that the question was misplaced. the tone may ve been. the medium lets u be the person u r true.

but if the medium IS regulated, then u wud need permission to be in that medium and the fact that u wud need that permission wud stop or restrain u from being u. that i guess was the point in the question.

i am not really sure if Barkha meant that blogging shd be closely regulated by asking the question she did. in fact i think she was trying to get these ppl to say, or indicate that no regulation or supervision wud matter nyways to them because as such "parental consent" is more of a moral code rather than a legal regulation. it hardly has any effect on us, unless we ve been really scared of our parents or been the yes dad, yes mom type of kids.

over regulation might be bad, but i dont think efficeint regulation is harmful to nything. if u dont regulate social networkin sites like orkut, its probably going to be tomorrow that ur or my fake profile is put up there. then, we wud definintely be the first ones to scream regulation! trust me, this point is only understood by those who ve been at the receiving end of it.....

Bhumi, Forget it..If the media had its way it woul...

2008-01-20T21:48:00.000-09:00

Bhumi, Forget it..If the media had its way it would put regulations on everything..

Wasn't there a talk about regulating traditional and non-traditional media too?
Nothing happened..They are total morons..If they only realised how much of a difference they can make as media IS the fourth pillar of a democracy..

Too much to expect at this point of time..so let's forget it!!

If they regulated us, we would still write..and if they have the resources to put regulations on millions of blogs and still growing and read each article..Well..You know we have done something really significant..

Why Barkha, (and the Government)..I'll clinch a few words from an ad..Just Do it!!

I don’t know if you watched the debate. If you did...

2008-01-20T21:36:00.000-09:00

I don’t know if you watched the debate. If you did you would have seen that all the bloggers – Meenakshi, Vikram Joshi and Jhoomur Bose – admitted that their parents read their blogs. Did that change anything? Vikram Joshi publicly confesses that he’s a gay; Jhoomur casually writes about sex. My point is, here is a medium that lets you be the person you are. Some people come out confidently, others stay anonymous - that’s completely their choice.

I was amazed that Barkha repeatedly asked this question to more than 3 bloggers. I wonder what she was trying to suggest. It might be her way of knowing how comfortable people are of making their personal life public but her tone didn’t suggest that. It seemed like any medium that gives us freedom of expression should be closely monitored, lest it becomes a trouble later.

Moreover, every new medium has to go through the scanner. We’ve written many essays in our school time – TV: A blessing or a curse?; Internet – is it good? And more recently, many questions have been raised against Orkut. People take time to accept anything new...

Sooner, blogs too will become a way of life; infact they have already. Regulating them is definitely not a good idea.

ummm..as regards the first point on ur post, i don...

2008-01-20T20:59:00.000-09:00

ummm..as regards the first point on ur post, i dont quite agree that asking someone whether his or her parents read his or her blog is a question not pertinent.

i believe and have even sensed it, that as an individual, that some of our best kept secrets are easily disclosed to strangers rather than our own family members. the issue of a persons' sexual orientation is a highly volatile topic, all of us know that.

the point of barkha, in asking that question is i think wat u missed and what was infact directly linked to the conversation. and u ve given a rhetoric reply to it urself: whether...to ve a blog u need someones' permission. i dont think u do. but if u did, do u think this guy cud ve started his blog and written abt his sexual orientation as easily as talking about his homework? or the chocolates he ate?

that is the relevant to the debate. because it gives us an insight into how much actually freedom of speech is free and not regulated. and i think the dominance of "personal" bloggers as against ppl running blogs with a cause on the show might also be an indication of the same: u cant regulate personal space. most indians have exploded on the blogging scene for this sole reason: it gives them the anonymity and yet they can recount their tale to people who are absolute strangers without being rebuked for the same or being told "i told u so" or being chided or even simply being judged!

the presence of these people is an indication of the fact that blogging cannot and should not be regulated. at least personal blogs shouldnt be regulated. and i dont think public blogs, or blogs which deal in public issues need regulation anyways.

@swapnilThere was no point watching the debate. It...

2008-01-20T20:21:00.000-09:00

@swapnil

There was no point watching the debate. It was badly managed and not at all insightful. You made a wise decision :P

@girish

Thanks and glad to see you. Well, some people think if it’s on television, it’s authentic. In such a situation - Live and let die :)

at least your piece was well-written. asks some pe...

2008-01-19T09:16:00.000-09:00

at least your piece was well-written. asks some pertinent questions.

as for the yahoos on t.v, they're entitled to their opinions.
live and let die :)

Hmm, I saw that debate too. But switched channels ...

2008-01-19T06:22:00.000-09:00

Hmm, I saw that debate too. But switched channels in 2 minutes. Somehow I didn't like the way they set it up - looked like one of those doordarshan things...