Comments on: Do You Swear on Your Blog? [POLL]

By: Robby G

Robby G — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 19:58:50 +0000

well my blog IS ‘Shite I Like-dot-com’ lol

By: James

James — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 11:06:08 +0000

It all depends on your subject matter, voice and audience. If you create a certain edgy persona I don’t think there’s a problem with swearing. Obviously it’s a no-no for a business audience however.

Personally I’ve never sworn, but I have used f__k in a post.

By: Garg the Unzola

Garg the Unzola — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 06:15:36 +0000

Not really. My blog is not for the faint at heart though, but I don't go out of my way to put swearing in. I am not writing for children, so I see no problem with adding the occasional profanity. It's not a rap song though. The Necro Files

By: Laura Christianson

Laura Christianson — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 01:44:41 +0000

Swearing in a blog post (particularly in a professional blog) is akin to putting up a big sign that shouts, “I’m a lazy writer.”

By: Barbara

Barbara — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 00:13:01 +0000

Several weeks ago I wrote a “hypothetical” post, on the same subject.

I don’t allow profanity on my blogs, but will accept some bleeped*** words. My loyal visitors know this, and respect my wishes.

I worry mostly about young children who are on computers surfing online, and landing on sites, sometimes accidentally. As parents and grandparents I feel it’s our duty to restrain from using swear words, so the children don’t begin to believe it’s acceptable.

The link to my post is

By: Genesis

Genesis — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 23:38:55 +0000

I don´t ever swear on my blog and very rarely in real life. My blogs are aimed at moms, so I don´t feel that it is very appropriate to use strong language (even when reporting on the hacker that took over my GoDaddy account and stole my domains!).

By: Cyndi L

Cyndi L — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 22:36:19 +0000

Never never never. I’m not interested in losing even one person over something so unnecessary.

By: Sue

Sue — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 21:54:37 +0000

Please delete the first post above. the site was misbehaving and there was a double post. Thanks.

By: Sue

Sue — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 21:10:02 +0000

In real life, my husband says I swear like a wounded pirate. Comes from working in emergency medical services for many years, I guess. And in predominantly male jobs the rest of the time. :)
But swear on my blogs? Never. I insist on keeping it family friendly; in fact one of my oft-seen long tail searches are from school kids looking up the question, “Which state has the most lighthouses.”
There’s no need to swear, not even to make a point. There are enough misspellings and poor grammar on blogs as it is.

By: Sue

Sue — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 21:08:44 +0000

In real life, my husband says I swear like a wounded pirate. Comes from working in emergency medical services for many years, I guess. And in predominantly male jobs the rest of the time. :)
But swear on my blogs? Never. I insist on keeping it family friendly; in fact one of my oft-seen long tail searches are from school kids looking up the question, “Which state has the most lighthouses.”
There’s no need to swear, not even to make a point. There’s enough misspeelings and poor grammar on blogs as it is.

By: Warren Kelly

Warren Kelly — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 18:52:56 +0000

Well, I’m a Godblogger, so profanity is not allowed on my blog, either from me or in the comments. If someone uses profanity in a comment, I won’t delete the whole thing (as I’ve seen done), but I will put a little {expletive deleted} thing in place of the offending verbiage.

But when I’m reading someone else’s stuff, profanity doesn’t usually bother me, unless it’s gratuitous. I understand that not everyone shares my distaste for that kind of language (and not everyone can agree on what profanity is), but if someone uses a word just for shock value, it’s a major turn-off for me.

By: Nez

Nez — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 18:00:25 +0000

On the blog, no. And even in real life, I don’t 99% of the time.

Thus, if you ever hear me swear, you KNOW something is really wrong — you know, the sky is falling, that kind of thing.

I’ve always wondered about people that swear every other word — what do they say when the BLEEP really hits the fan, what would they say then?

By: Allyn Paul

Allyn Paul — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 17:34:51 +0000

You folks are way too BLACK and WHITE on this issue… What about the fence-sitting curse words? Ya know, the ones that get across the same message via a watered down version?
Like “arse” or “friggin’” or “shizzy” … is there no one else in the blogosphere who takes this middle ground as I do?
AL

By: Maritzia

Maritzia — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 17:02:07 +0000

Nine times out of ten, if I feel like swearing on my blog, I simply replace the swear word with *expletive deleted*. It dates back to my early gaming days when I knew there were a number of young teens in our guild, and it kind of became a trademark with me. In real life, I have a mouth like a sailor. It always shocks people who knew me first on-line, when they talk to me in real life, how much i swear.

If I’m particularly perturbed and seriously want to swear in my blog, I usually put it behind a cut with warnings, for anyone who doesn’t want to be offended. I think I’ve done that exactly once on my blog.

By: brem

brem — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 16:19:28 +0000

I usually swear more when commenting on other people’s blogs :)

By: --Deb

--Deb — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 14:56:21 +0000

Sometimes I feel like the only person on the planet who grew up in a family that simply did not swear. I think I’ve heard my mother use “damn” maybe three times in my life, and I’ve never heard my father use any bad language of any kind. I therefore don’t feel it remotely necessary for getting a point across–we’ve managed to communicate to ourselves and to others well enough all these years.

I’ve become somewhat inured to hearing it, the world being what it is, but do not read blogs, books, or articles that bandy offensive language about. Not so much because I find if offensive (I mean, sure, a little), but because it makes the writing BORING. I wouldn’t like a book that used the words “swell” or “nice” or “nifty” every other paragraph, either . . . because, well, doesn’t the author know any other words? My mother, on the other hand? When she hears bad language, she immediately shuts off and loses all interest and respect for the speaker/writer.

And, you’ve got to love the euphemism “bad language.” (No, no, naughty! No touch!) But the fact that this generation’s euphemism becomes the next generation’s favorite curse word is pretty fascinating.

By: Jake

Jake — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 14:32:46 +0000

I do occasionally swear. I try to keep my writing style close to the way I speak, which occasionally has swear words. I don’t want people to read my blog and not really know the way I talk, so I try to combine the way I speak and sometimes a more professional tone, if needed.

By: Andrea

Andrea — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 14:00:37 +0000

No – there’s nothing so bad in print that you can’t find another word to say what you mean. To me, excessive swearing in print, when the type of blog or site doesn’t really call for it, is a sign the author needs to work on their writing skills as a means of expression.

When you are blogging, you are *in public*. Would you swear if you were quoted for the local paper? On the evening news? Would you swear at or to your boss, spouse, family members?

Not only does it make you look less intelligent, it’s unprofessional and inconsiderate.

By: maria

maria — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 13:26:18 +0000

This is an interesting topic. I’m from New York and am used to being around people constantly swearing, so I’ve never even thought I could potentially offend someone because of my use of those words on my blog.

That being said, my main blog is one I would consider for adults and if you are offended by ocassional use of the f-word, you would not be the kind of person who would read me regularly anyway.

By: Rebecca Laffar-Smith

Rebecca Laffar-Smith — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 13:25:42 +0000

While I ‘put up with’ a great deal of bad language I simply don’t see the point in using obscenities. It smacks of a lack of tact and refinement. I know, that sounds completely snobbish but the truth is, there are far more effective ways to emphasis a point and print/web is for life. What you commit to the page you then have to live with forever.

Also, I’m raising my children to avoid using bad language. They’ve learnt to reprimand me when I swear. I was raised around swear words so some of the time I just don’t notice if I ’say’ a bad word but I ALWAYS notice it in text. If I could edit my mouth I’d cut the cussing from there too.