An Avatar is not the Real Person, and other Observations from the Blogosphere

Once in a while, I run into a rich node of good sense. It happened again this morning.

"I have learned that an avatar is not the real person and that blogging is not a 'who can outblog who' contest. While recognition is nice, I am ultimately choosing to have my '15 minutes of fame' allotted elsewhere; perhaps in a way less self-serving. I have learned that I need to blog responsibly and that words have the ability to inflict a lot of damage; especially to our young people and to those who could possibly be 'on the edge'. I believe that I can do it without compromising my core self.

"I have learned that 'draft' is not a bad place for hot posts to cool off before making them 'go live' (or not). I have learned not to post anything that I wouldn’t say to a person's face, and if I happen to get 'called on it', it's 'my bad' for having posted it. And, I have learned just how big the world is, and that to step outside of my own sometimes, can be a very good thing.- Nards"

a comment by nardeeisms, in "What Have You Learned from Blogging so far?" (BlogCatalog discussion thread (started April 30, 2008)).