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In their purest, unmodified forms, blogs like those run by Sawai, Valerie, Sidney, Stacee, Ronald and Jess, aim to do one basic thing: convey an opinion. Some of these blogs are highly opinionated, while some of these blogs talk about anything experienced in the life of that blogger. At the most basic form, the most selfish thing these bloggers can do at this moment, including me on this very site that you are reading, is to manipulate the readers to prefer an opinion or to sympathize or agree with what is written. Even though I may be wrong, as far as I know, earning money through the blog is not an agenda for any of these bloggers, or at least the main agenda.

That means, in my view, if these bloggers earned no direct or indirect money whatsoever and they could not control or manipulate their readers in any shape or form through their blogs, they would still continue blogging. In the purest and simplest form, a real personal blog should aim to be felt by at least one other person in this world, and nothing else. That feeling should be the only purpose of the purest, simplest, personal blog. Whatever that real personal blogger does to make sure the other person hears them in any form, in turn becomes the simplest form of manipulation possible, for the personal blogger intends only to be heard, and feels no need to turn such an attention into a sale or any kind of generated money for themselves or their partners.

Example: This very site can probably still be considered manipulative, albeit in its smallest form

For example, this very article you are reading was written by a writer who hopes that you will understand what the writer wants to say, and that writer also hopes that if the writer is not wrong in the writing presented here, that you, the reader, will agree to what the writer is saying. It is an unconscious feeling that simply exists. I can easily control it to not let it affect any decisions, since control is one of my skills because this is my life.

Since this is my personal site, everything I write and do on it gets an emotional backup from me, and thus I value it a lot. That can be considered a basis for some kind of manipulation on this site. That is why I can limit the manipulation on this site to the very basic: writing in ways that express both what I want to say and in ways that you will understand exactly what I want to say. For me, anytime someone considers anything other than the original message, is considering manipulation. Not all manipulation is bad. It is just that almost all of the manipulation in the world is bad. Some people may say that me writing content in ways that make readers understand the content more clearly is not manipulation: however, if we want to stick to the definition of manipulation, such things also fall under that meaning, fortunately or unfortunately.

The same way a person dresses nicely to manipulate the public feeling of looking professional while going to a party, when at other times they always dress differently, a personal bloggers or a writer can write a message clearly and then try to manipulate it a bit in order to make it more understandable, without altering any of the content or reason or intention or anything related to the message. It is a very rare quality to have, to not alter the reason why one expresses themselves while trying to appeal to others, though when it happens, it can still be considered one of the simplest forms of manipulations, even if it is not bad and in reality is good for both the writer and the reader.

Even though there can be manipulation in the writing itself, a personal blog nature can give you a few things that other blog types cannot: the ability to write anything. I can write about kidnapping whales and stalking squirrels while eating with cats, and I can still be happy. Many other bloggers cannot, since for them, every post must bring in a lot of readers or else they may upset their advertisors or their site may lose value and they may lose credibility, in the eyes of those who pay. It is simply the reason why one blogs that sets everyone apart.

What sets me apart: realizing the importance of reason behind everything.

For me, reason is everything. That is why this site is called The Reasoner. I am not here to make money through this site, period. If I make money while doing what I want, awesome. So far, that has proven to be hard. For example, I was recently offered a few thousand dollars to either delete a post I had written a few years ago, or to close it down and not allow any more comments on it. I rejected the offer, and the post is still open, upsetting some businesses and some ethnic groups since I wrote what I observed and they do not like that being in the open.

What would have happened if I had been offered a million dollars to delete that post or turn it off along with its comments? Today, in 2007, a million dollar solves monetary woes for life for many people, whereas a few thousand dollars solves monetary woes for only a few weeks for those same people. You can see the dilemma when it comes to having answers that apply to every situation. That is why in real life, using real solid logic and reason which majority of the bloggers simply ignore because they do not understand it and because they wish to have smaller type of roles in life or anything to earn money with, it can be and usually is very hard to find out the definitive answer to anything, including the question of whether or not personal blogs are the least manipulative or if they are the most manipulative when it comes to wanting to control the blog and readers in such a way that the blogger earns some kind of money. All of these and the importance of reason itself are why manipulation is a very important thing for me to track and observe on all sites, if I am aware of it.

For our topic here, the issue of how to finance the costs of hosting and running a blog are not important. Our sole concern, at its simplest, is the absence or existence of any kind of manipulation done to earn any form of direct or indirect money.

Some other blogs that come close to the simplest forms of personal blogs do not focus on earning money themselves in any manner

Many personal bloggers simply want to be heard, whether it is by a 1000 people every day or 10 people every week. The most basic and simple personal blog blogs because it is a personal thing to do. In contrast, non-personal bloggers can have some more self interests in their blogs in their simplest blogging styles. They may be blogging for earning direct money, or they may be blogging in order to persuade someone to take some action, like a political blog urging everyone indirectly to vote for someone in the elections. In theory, a blogger can have a blog that helps others earn money, while not aiming for and not earning any money whatsoever, directly or indirectly, through the existence of that blog. In reality, how many of such blogs do we know exist?

Similarly, some bloggers may be blogging to indirectly promote their online or offline business, while other bloggers blog because they want to figure out some way to earn money in the future.

Still, there are some few types of bloggers who come as close as possible to being true personal bloggers. Hobby Bloggers, who blog about their hobbies, can come close to being the least manipulative in their blogging, if they focus solely on promoting or talking about their hobby without manipulating anything or anyone to earn more money along the way. Similarly, bloggers who simply blog, without having any direct or indirect financial or self interest in what they write other than to be heard, come very close to personal bloggers when it comes to the least manipulative tactics that can be seen on different kinds of blogs.

Are Marketing and Advertising blogs and bloggers the most manipulative?

Contrary to popular belief by many people, not all marketers, advertisors and sales people wish to throw down products in your view. However, many marketing and advertising blogs and bloggers do usually apply more sales techniques on their readers, writing articles that attract more readers or claiming to be beneficial for the readers, with the sole purpose of being more popular and earning money either directly or indirectly. The reason why one starts blogging is very important to me. A personal blog that starts blogging simply to express opinions is more important and honest than a blog that starts blogging in order to indirectly advertise one’s skills or business in order to directly or indirectly make money. For me, a personal blogger appreciating readers simply because they like those readers reading that blogger’s writing is more sincere and less manipulative than a marketing or some other blogger appreciating readers because doing so will result in more attention and more business and money in the long run, and vice versa.

A marketing or advertising blogger running only a personal blog and not advertising, directly or indirectly, his or her services or skills, and not promoting any writing in order to benefit in any manner, directly or indirectly, other than to be heard by at least one person in the world, can have a blog with the least manipulation. Of course, by its very nature, it is very hard to find many blog kinds out there which limit themselves to writing only to be heard by only one person and nothing else. The closest kind to such a thing can be anonymous online journals that do not want to, nor do they, make any kind of direct or indirect money for anyone other than the readers, including the anonymous online journal owners. One can easily say and argue that if money is involved, then manipulation may happen. Let us assume that in our case, the readers make money, and that the people producing the content that helps reader make money are not influenced at all by the readers making money: they write anything, including things that do not appeal to anyone, all the time. There are still many people out there who do not allow comments on their site, and all they do is write about different things without advertising or without earning any money. They simply want to be heard or they simply want to express themselves.

I am myself very closely related and tied to the marketing and advertising field, though I have made sure that I am tied to it indirectly. It is not that marketing and advertising blogs are manipulative and personal blogs are not. Many marketing and advertising blogs usually tend to be more manipulative than personal blogs. Personal blogs do have some manipulation, in the form of sometimes not sharing the entire story about something or putting emphasis on a single thing, in order to sway the reader to agreeing or sympathizing with what the writer wants to say.

Thought: Are personal blogs less manipulative than other kinds of blogs?

So I wonder, all the time, the same way I wonder about a countless number of other questions. Are personal blogs the last standing blogs that have any chance of having the least manipulative tactics than other blogs?

As always, I also wonder whether the answer is absolute or relative.

As I said before, reason is everything to me, and that is why I like being called The Reasoner. Now that I think of it, I may also like names like The Hungrer, since I am also usually always hungry. I have to stop writing for now, since I it is near midnight here and it is time for me to hunt for food.

Thank you for reading.

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1. You own an iPod, or something similar.

   Think of the iPod as a luxury. Majority of the world cannot afford to buy food once a day, yet you have an iPod. You could have gotten the iPod as a gift from someone, or you could have bought it yourself. Now, how does this make sure that you are not poor? If you ask someone to lend you $100, while your iPod can be sold for $70, it means you want someone else to be inconvenienced by them giving you their money, while you do not want to give up listening to your iPod. Similarly, if you have something along the same lines, like a new laptop, and cannot part with it, you may not be poor. You can easily sell a laptop and get some money for it.

   Exceptions: Your job may depend on the laptop, or in some very rare cases, the iPod. Someone close to you may have given you the iPod and thus you cannot sell it, or else they will be greatly offended. Your iPod may probably be so old that you can only get $5 from it while you do not have money to pay the rent, which costs a couple of thousand dollars, etc. Of course, I can also say that if you can get $5 from your iPod, it means you are doing your best to make sure you utilize every resource possible before feeling that you are helpless and poor.

2. You can afford to buy a home or pay rent

   Home is another important factor that people and society have worked together to create. If you can afford to buy a home or pay rent for your current place of living, you are most probably not poor. Some ways to save money could be to cut off on living expenses: using less electricity, finding a cheaper place, selling off the home, renting a room to someone, etc.

   Exceptions: Even if you find a cheaper place, you may still not have the money you need. You may also already have the cheapest place anyone could get, unless you had a gun to force the landlord into lowering your rent. However, a gun usually costs money, so a really poor person may not be able to afford that. Unless, however, you use a knife to get a gun, but a knife costs too. Unless you use…..ok, never mind.

3. You can buy large combo meals from fast food places every day

   Food prices are a good way to measure the performance of an economy, and food is also a good way to measure the strength of your bank account, if you have one. If you can buy at least 2 large combo meals at McDonald’s or Carls. Jr.s every day, you are probably not poor. Why? You can buy cheaper stuff at grocery stores and cook things yourself for weeks, saving more than half the money you spend in a month on fast food.

   Exceptions: You don’t know how to cook, you do not have a kitchen, you get gift cards or coupons for the fast food purchase, etc.

4. You can buy the things you want

   The things you need are usually different than the things you want. Wanting to eat food daily is something you need. Wanting to buy coffee and chocolate everyday, in addition to other kinds of food, can be something you want. If you can afford to buy things that can be avoided on a regular basis, chances are you are not poor. Paying for a blog, host, design and extra features for your site just for a hobby also means that you are probably not poor since you can afford such a thing.

   I knew this guy once who would drink coffee 3 times a day, finish a pack of premium cigarettes every day, buy food supplies and also eat at fast food places multiple times a day. On top of that, he would ask from time to time to lend him something so he could pay his rent. I calculated his expenses with him and in front of him, and figured that he was spending around $250 for the things I just listed above. How much did he want me to lend him? Around $100 or so. I told him about this, and he stopped being friendly after that.

   Exceptions: You are addicted to smoking. By addicted, I do not mean that if you do not smoke you feel weird. No, feeling weird for not smoking is an excuse for people who want a lame excuse to keep spending money. By addicted, I mean if you stop smoking or drinking you feel extreme depression, or you get seizures and have to go to the hospital, etc. Also, without things like coffee, you may actually get literal headaches throughout the day resulting in you getting admitted to the hospital. Also, things like blog may maintain your sanity by allowing you to express yourself, and without that, you would be poor and insane, though some can say that such a reason is simply an excuse to spend on your blog while you do not have enough money for offline things.

   Another important exception to this rule is if you are Bes: Bes needs and wants chocolate every single day; no exception to this rule. Period. Bes used to give packs of chocolate to homeless people before someone threw it back at Bes and yelled “I want some change! What the HELL am I gonna do with that?” Bes apologized and moved on, and ever since, Bes has been thinking of never giving away any chocolate, but keeping it in the fridge to devour while writing posts at night.

5. You can buy things for others

   If you can buy things for others, you are most probably the opposite of poor. You may be rich. There is nothing wrong with buying a $500 watch for your boy/girlfriend, but there is something wrong with buying a $500 watch to impress someone and asking someone else to lend you $200 for your car payment at the same time.

   Exceptions: You feel your job or some relationship depends on you buying something for others so much, that you do not even have enough money for some personal things, like your own rent, enough food, etc. Sure, such an exception means you do not know how to have a good relationship and are in touch with the wrong people, but it also means that you may be poor and cannot help it. Another exception may be that you are raising a child or someone, and you want that child or anyone depending on your financially to be really happy, and thus you are sacrificing your own financial happiness.

I hope this list helps you realize whether or not you are really poor. Also, if you want to borrow money from someone, you may think twice before asking someone to part with their money, while you do not part with yours.

Can you think of more things to add to this list?

A good next topic could be “5 situations in which you wish you were poor.” Thanks for reading.

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Being inconsiderate offline

Almost every week I talk to some friends who tell me about how they ran into some people who had no manners because they did not respect the culture, religion, political view or something else that my friend believed in. However, people usually do not talk about their own character not having any rules or views on how one should be accommodating of other views. For example, if a certain culture dictates how someone should eat, it can be very hard to find any rule or cultural characteristic that dictates how one can let someone eat anyway they want, if they did not subscribe to certain cultural trends.

If a culture, religion, or any other guideline view about something in life about is not accommodating of people who want to do things their own way while not hurting others, why can we ourselves not be more considerate to and of others and still follow our culture and our rules? If our culture or religion does not consider other conflicting views, does that mean our culture and religion is not good? Why can people not be all right with others doing the same thing in different ways? Does everyone have to have the same religion? Does everyone have to have the same culture? Does everyone need to have the same political view? Does everyone need to do everything in the same exact manner? As long as someone is doing something and not hurting others directly and intentionally, why can we not be happy with them, coexist with them, and even incorporate them and their views into our own lives?

Being inconsiderate online

I run into many blogs daily where people get upset over someone having differing view about something then them. A blogger may get upset and feel offended if someone else talks about contradictory views on religion, politics, or even blogging. However, should we not have the quality of being considerate to other views? Why can our own online views, such as blogging rules, dictate something like “We will treat and deal with the people who have the exact same views as us, in exactly the same manner as the people who have different views“?

Why is it that I cannot write something, like saying that blogging is just a stupid fad, without getting people to attack me without any reason? Being inconsiderate does not mean that you do not disagree with others. Being inconsiderate means that you cannot live normally while knowing that people have different views. The only reason we may be upset at others online, and thus be inconsiderate to them, is because those other people are going after ideas that we ourselves have either not thought of, or we have decided not to utilize them. We do not disrespect and disagree with others people because we believe we are right; we disrespect and disagree with others because they have a different view and because they do not subscribe to our views.

This mentality creates a little dilemma, if one believes in the concept of applying a theory to different things; does everyone then, when following the concept of being considerate to others, need to follow the same standards online? Why can we not have more blogs without any RSS feeds? Why can we not have nonstandard, and strange, labeling around a site, like the word “Backroad” instead of “Archives“? Why can we not have more blogs without the comment feature? One of the grand questions of all: if we want to be considerate to others, why can we not be comfortable with blogs that deliberately aim to be inconsiderate?

Do you think the concept of being considerate to others has any value for you?

What is your view on this? Do we have to criticize or hate every instance of something that we disagree with? Could that be the reason why many married and dating couples look like brothers and sisters, because many people want to find someone who not only acts like them but also looks like them? Can human beings, as a whole, ever have a mentality where they not only respect different views and people, but they also make it a part of their own character to revolve their own views and character on such a thing? We we, as individuals, easily have a mentality where we are not only considerate to others, but where we also revolve our own ideas and beliefs around the idea of letting other ideas and beliefs prosper within our own life domain?

I am touching the introduction of this touchy subject very lightly, as this subject probably defines the lives of many people out there, and deserves more than just a single post that was written while Bes was hungry. Do you agree or disagree with this?

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1. Stop learning new things: One of the reasons your blogging skills may be getting outdated can be because of your reluctance to learn new online programming languages, or new ways to do different blog things, like creating new blog themes or creating new kinds of blog content. You may be compensating for such a deficiency by experimenting a lot with what you already know.
2. Have outside factors control your skills: If you allow outside tools to do specific things on your blog, you are depending on those tools. While it is good to use external tools like MyBlogLog or plugins for your site, it is even better to know how such services work in order to come up with your own alternative or replacement if you ever wish to stop using such external tools which are not under your direct control. Otherwise, just because you know how to use an external blogging service does not mean you know how to provide to your own blog, on your own, the same functionality as that external blogging service.
3. Blog about the same thing repeatedly: There is no doubt that you can blog about topics like “Catchy Headlines“, but if you write 20 posts on the same topic even from different perspectives, you should either have a blog that focuses solely on headlines or you should have a plan that incorporates those 20 posts into a larger picture. Otherwise, blogging about the same thing repeatedly may signify that you do not know what to blog about, and are probably not looking into different areas of your life or the offline world in order to come up with fresh topics or different messages to express.
4. Blog about the same things as everyone else: If you are like many news reporting sites or blogs, you probably blog about things that everyone else is blogging about, in almost the same manner too. There is nothing wrong with blogging about something that everyone is also talking about. However, such a behavior from your side shows that your blogging skills are outdated because they depend on the blogging skills of other people. You apparently cannot come up with your own content, and you probably do not even know how to present commonly discussed topics in your own words.
5. Avoid the latest blogging tools: Even though I mentioned in the first point above that knowing how external tools work can be a good idea, you may have noticed that I did not say in that point that using external tools was a bad thing. External tools can be more than good. Use external tools if they allow you to do necessary tasks more efficiently and with better results than otherwise possible. Similarly, trying to do complex things manually, when you can instead use software like WordPress, results in your attention being diverted unnecessarily, and inefficiently, to things that can be done quickly and more efficiently through tools already developed and available for use by others. The more time you focus on different things on your blog, the less time you focus on actually coming up with great ways to convey your thoughts on your blog.

The above 5 are some of the many reasons that can result in your blogging skills to become outdated. You may simply be doing or avoiding one of these things, but along the way, you may be neglecting something more important because of paying attention to something of lesser value. As a result, your blogging skills may not be up to date on many levels. That puts you at a risk of not being taken seriously by employers looking for specific skills, or even your readers who realize that a lot of the things you do are not beneficial in the long term, for both you and your readers.

What is your opinion on this? Is there any point you disagree with, or have an example for? Can you think of other points that signify that you are slowly starting to lose control of your blogging skills and may be falling behind?

Thank you for reading.

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