Aussie Bloggers

Sometimes I surprise myself and write some posts that may offend.

I am really not that self conscious, but I do wonder sometimes if I have pushed it too far and offended anyone. There are just so many backgrounds and cultural expectations of blog readers. How can you possibly cater to everyone?

It is a very fine line in the lampooning business.

How far can you push it before it descends into offence or makes the reader uncomfortable.

For example:

Cruel Lampooning of Famous People

Lampooning of Australian Politicians

and of course the F word and his friends, that naughty intermittent interloper into our lives, including our blogs, our good friend swearing.

This can be a difficult one and I am partial to the odd swear word on my blog. I would not say that I am the master of the profane, but I do enjoy a good joke and sometimes you just gotta have ‘em for emphasis. I searched my blog for one of the unmentionable words and I had less than ten posts. I doubt I would get much of a mention on a swear blogger round up.

In the UK, there is an informal grouping of swear bloggers, who have refined political lambasting into an art form incorporating naughty words. Most of the masters of this art form are Scottish, including, the Reactionary Snob, a respectable Edinburgh Advocate. Here he summarises the reasons why he swears on his blog.

The only people who get abused on this blog I feel deserve it. There are plenty of politicians I respect from all sides.

If you don’t agree – fair enough. There are a billion blogs to read so go and find one with no effing and blinding. If you think that someone of my standing should be doing more with their life, you are probably right. If you think that I could actually make a difference with my posts and people might listen to me if only I didn’t call (insert politician) a (expletives deleted), you are possibly right. But I don’t want to… I use my blog as a little bit of therapy, a place where I can say what I think. If I go a bit far on occasion, so much the better – the few readers I have seem to enjoy it.

I haven’t noticed this to be quite so accepted here in Australia, where bloggers healthy disrespect for politicians tend to show up more in humour and sarcasm. Cynical lot those Brit Bloggers on the other hand. Must be the weather.

Should we warn the reader or do we just dive in or is OK if we swear in other languages.

And should you apologise, especially if it is out of character and it all flowed so beautifully when you came back from the pub last night.

And of course some of us are comfortable with swearing on the bible, but not to swear on the blog.

What about f**k, fcuk and the like? Are they culturally acceptable substitutes? If we know what they mean (nod nod wink wink) then why not just use them?

Can you use swearing in poetry, jokes or in cartoons? In my humble judgement, many of these just don’t work without the appropriate inappropriate word.

Or how about in educational settings. How about in geography lessons? Is it alright to talk knowledgeably about the social context and ethics in the use of swearing or can you say the words directly? Does the academic snob value outweight the shock value of the words themselves?

There is, of course, an element of class consciousness underlying all of it. Swearing attacks the social structure by showing you refuse to play by the linguistic rules of the upper crust. It makes you a linguistic rebel.

Darren has run the numbers and there are a lot of linquistic rebel bloggers and Justin summarises the pros and cons of attacking the social structure.

Ultimately readers will decide. Either they like it and will come back or they are put off and take their custom elsewhere. I suppose it is down to finding your own voice. If that incorporates swearing and people continue to read your blog then fine.

What do you think?

Editors Note: Some swear words may be noted in the links.