Are you good in blog? A calling for all Skeptical bloggers; this is my response to an idea put forward by SheThought.com.
How to start a blog? This question has replaced the old “what should my website be about?” and although it is easy to setup a blog with services such as Blogger.com, WordPress.com, Squarespace.com ect. Actually “starting” the blog is another thing all together. The truth is that blogging is not for everyone, it is a personal thing and you need to find a topic that you are interested in and be willing to state your opinion on them. If you are at the point where your seriously considering a blog then you already fill this prerequisite. If you want to write about something then the best advice I can give is to just do it, write something; anything. You don’t need to be perfect or even good because your can always improve in the future, however you can never succeed if you do not start.
Dealing with Trolls. There is an old Usenet saying “Please do not feed to trolls” and it still holds true to this day most trolls are seeking attention and will give up when they do not receive the attention they are seeking. The best thing to do is ignore them don’t take the bait they lay. If you must take on the trolls do so with reasoned debate and any onlookers can draw their own conclusions. The Troll will most likely show themselves up early on; especially if they are anonymous and too cowardly to stand behind what they say.
Why blog at all? As I said before, blogging is a personal thing and it is not for everyone. Some people prefer to spend their time in silent observation, for every blogger there are hundreds more people participating in discussion forums such as SGU-Forums and many thousands more silent observers. But the primary idea behind blogging is to voice an opinion and doing so has opened public debate in ways that where unimaginable only 10-15 years ago.
How has the recent UK libel case vs Simon Singh changed blogging? The recent victory of Simon Singh over the British Chiropractic Association has sent a strong message to suppressors of free-speech that criticism cannot be silenced with lawsuits. I find that when people go running to their lawyers rather than public debate it is because they nearly always have something to hide. Never trust anyone who chooses to file lawsuits rather than addressing their critics; they are hiding something. Fortunately the Streisand Effect ensures that it does not remain hidden for long.