How honest are you with your blog?

Unlike print media, a mistake that's done on a digital post can easily be corrected. I'm the one who would re-read a blog when it's published, searching for typo, extra space or broken link/missing pictures. But I don't go beyond that. If I update a post (usually for keeping up with the current situation like the one I did with Big Bad Wolf Book Sale story), I would let my readers know. If possible, I would just write a new post. That's where I draw the honesty line.

Then again, honesty is such a lonely word. Is honesty the best policy in blogging world? Will you be alone if you're too honest?

Well, I had this honesty debate with Dudu when we're reviewing a hotel in Malang. I found the hotel okay, but Dudu has almost no positive things to say about the accommodation. He has a valid reason and his own 5-star standard when it comes to a hotel review. He found none of the stars in the hotel. Fortunately, it wasn't a paid review so I don't have to worry.

Why being honest? Well, I started blogging because I love to write. It was back in god-knows-when, in the form of a brutally honest diary where I would put everything from cynical lyrics to frustration lines. So why change now? Writing is sacred because it's embedded in my name by my grandfather when I was born. Then I became a journalist and that, too, made me think of writing as a form of honesty. So, you'll find no exaggerated opinion or story, just for the sake of traffic.

As an adult, and an editor in my previous life, I restrict myself from being too blunt. I don't write everything because some are just "off-the-record," but that doesn't mean I made up stories to fit in the (monetizing) opportunities in front of me. My 10-year-old partner however, has another idea about saying what's in his mind. Dudu's essay on honesty got a recognition from KPK earlier this year. So, there you go. His part of this blog is always talking truth, I rarely cut his dialogues and opinion.

Recognition from KPK's leader

Here are my rules with honest blogging:

1. Be as honest as you're comfortable with. 
2. Be as honest as the society allows you to.
3. Consider to compromise when you realize that your standard for truth may be different with that of your audience. 
4. But compromise only the standards, not the truth.
5. Doesn't mean you have to follow someone else's standard though.
6. It's okay to have things left unsaid...
7. ... or create an anonymous blog for the unspoken pieces. Everyone has alter ego. Well, Shinichi Kudou does.
8. Cite your sources properly.

As for competitions, I personally prefer to not participate if I can't finish the piece on time or if I can't write a fitting piece to be submitted according to the theme. Now I sound like a snobbish perfectionist. Well, in this English Friday challenge, you gotta write the truth, right?

So, deal with it.