Let's Talk Bookish; Can You Write Whatever You Want?

It's Friday and time for a new Let's Talk Bookish post, courtesy of Book Nook Bits and the topic of the week was "Can you write whatever you want?".

Here's the further prompts for this week's topic.

Can bloggers just write whatever they want? Or are there boundaries they should respect even on their own platform? If a blogger is called out for something they post, are they obligated to respond?

I would personally say that within reason, common sense, and laws, bloggers can write whatever they want. That said, in an ideal world, no one would be awarded the title "blogger of the year" if they spew out hate, whether it's antisemittic, racist, homophobic, transphobic, islamophobic, etc, on their blog(s).

If bloggers are caught in the act of doing it and get called out on it, they sure as heck should own up to their mistakes and respond in a proper manner.

Speaking of posting "whatever", in terms of writing negative reviews of books, there's a difference in writing "this book sucks" versus saying something down the line of "x, y, and z needed a bit of improvement, while a, b, and c was good in this book". While I totally get why some bloggers are wary of posting negative reviews on their blogs (or don't post them at all), it's also nice to know when to stay away from a book, not only knowing it's a book worth picking up, if you know what I mean.

I have written a few luke-warm/negative reviews of books on this blog from time to time, but I've tried my best doing it in a tactful and respectful manner, pointing out both the good AND the bad in whatever book I'm reviewing at the time.

Also, it's perhaps a good thing in general, blogging or not, to do a fact-check from time to time, so no mis-information and such is spread. Spoiler alert - the earth is round and the moon isn't made of Swiss cheese, just saying.

So perhaps the conclusion, from me at least, to the puzzle of if bloggers can write whatever they want on their blogs, is to not spew out hate speech, stay polite and respectful, keep your facts straight, and you're pretty much in the clear.