A blog that I frequently visit came into some recent criticism that I felt was worth talking about. The site, Orlando Theme Parks News, which provides information and updates on all the theme parks in the Orlando, FL area skips over attractions that its owner feels are too ‘dark.’ This is includes the new Harry Potter’s World of Wizardry at Universal Orlando and the Haunted Mansion at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. Again, the site’s owner feels that these attractions conflict with his beliefs, so he never mentions them in his reports. This has caused a bit of an uproar on one of his posts, which makes me wonder: who really has control over your blog?
While I noticed the absence of the Harry Potter land in a report, I didn’t think much of it until I read the comments on one particular article. Some people were respectful while others used terms like ‘religious nut’. Keep in mind that this website is free to use and the ads are very unobtrusive, yet people still complained as if they are not getting their money’s worth. This guy takes the time to visit all these theme parks to take pictures and post information, yet people complain that he doesn’t do more.
While I happen to disagree with the site owner about Harry Potter or the Haunted Mansion being dark or evil, I respect his right to exclude them from his reports. As someone that lives almost 1500 miles from Orlando, I appreciate the service that he and other bloggers from the area provide. But again, it’s another example of whether or not as bloggers, we’re at the mercy of our readers.
Of course, it got me thinking of this blog. I have dozens of articles that I’ve written but never published because I don’t want to turn off visitors. Sometimes, it’s because I find it daunting getting the article to both make a point and not upset anyone so I just leave it and write another article on a different topic. I already notice that if I don’t have an article about public speaking or Toastmasters every two or three articles, it upsets some of my readers. Others prefer the personal development and motivational topics while still others like the tips on interviewing. The bottom line is that you can’t please everyone, so don’t bother. I worked for a dot com in the mid-1990’s and even though it was a free site, we’d receive “hate mail” (and that’s putting it mildly in some cases) whenever the site was down or there was a problem with it. People can be nasty.
As for the owner of the blog I mentioned, I think he should keep on doing what he’s doing. He’s obviously passionate about his work and enjoys it – which is why it’s a great site. If he were to force himself to cover things that conflict with his values, then his blog might suffer from it. It won’t be as fun and it’ll show in the quality of his posts. It’s really too bad that we have to hide who we really are to be accepted by some people. Perhaps the people that preach tolerance should try practicing it.
James Feudo owns the Boston Web Design Agency JVF Solutions and loves blogging about personal development and communication in his spare time.