Blog etiquette and courtesy - do's and don'ts?
 

I would like to get some guidelines from others on blog etiquette with respect to what is acceptable to write about and what may be taboo with people you encounter while travelling. Should you get permission from someone prior to telling their story in your blog? And what about pictures?

We have often been in awkward situations with this. One time, we met one young man and stayed with his family in a fairly poor country and wrote about him and his family in our blog. We stayed in touch with him via email, but didn't mention our blog as his family was quite poor and we wanted to remain as humble as we could. Later a friend of his found his picture on the internet (in our blog, probably after keying in his hometown) and he wrote back to us asking why we didn't mention this to him and would we please remove his picture and story from our blog. We did this at his request, but felt fairly lousy afterwards.

Sometimes we have mentioned our blog to folks, but often it was uncomfortable to do so with many of the locals we met in developing countries. We tried to remain as humble as we could while travelling and sometimes felt the blog might compromise this. On the other hand, we gave out our email addresses freely to the locals and always gave our blog address to other western travellers.

With internet access being universally available these days, you may be surprised who finds your blog. And many of the stories you want to share are from local folks who speak some english and are probably somewhat internet savvy.

And recommendations of blog do's and don'ts from those experienced in the world of journalism or experiences from others?

Personally, I would say its YOUR story and they are just characters passing through.
The bit about you being "humble", seems a bit odd. They know you are not like them in the money stakes and if you had been up front enough to tell him you were going to make him as star in your blog, I think the reaction would have been different.

Publish and be damned - IMHO.

John

I dont blog/post anything I would'nt say to a persons face, but other than that just go for it.

Ego Trip
 

"they are just characters passing through"

Well, I fear Redboots, you've put your finger on everything that is wrong with so many westerners travelling the globe.

Simon

political correct blogs :-(
 

Happy Hacker is right, dont blog/post anything you would'nt say to a person face to face. I don't beleive in political correct blogs. My blog is my view on life and my trip and no more and no less.

I don't think the line "they are just characters passing through" is meant to be disrespectful. Those people we meet, being very important in itself are "just" a part of the trip. No matter if the are poor or wealthy, thirth world or western people. Some of those people may even become good friends but still, for the story of the trip, "they are just characters passing through".

There is one thing to consider; You don't want people to get in trouble because of your blog so be careful with political opinions people share with you.

Sheesh....
OK Simon, remove the "just" and let is stand at that eh?

As others have said, if you can say it to their face, you can probably blog it...

John

Everyone has a right to privacy and any traveller knows that not everyone you meet likes to have their picture taken .
There could be many genuine reasons why that particular person would not want his details made public to the world .
What is wrong with asking for permission to post their photos and story on your blog ?
It seems a small courtesy .

I wholeheartedly second that. A person may have his photo taken by you under the impression that it will be kept as a memory, a memento of the event/meeting, not be shared by the entire world to see. Keeping the sensitivities of other cultures in mind is not always easy, but is much appreciated.

I'm not one for political correctness, but there is a difference between trying to understand the mindset and feelings of the people you meet and regarding them as a bunch of characters (of whatever sort) who are simply the ingredients of your story.

If you keep regarding people as characters, somewhere along the line, you have a good chance of meeting others who will regard (and treat) you the same way.

@davidmc : We all learn this slowly (and as I can see from this thread, some people much slower than others), and there is no need to feel bad about it, as it is something which is simply a misunderstanding due to a clash of cultures. When you are in a strange country, you DO ask your host / friend whether doing something is okay or not - this just happened to be one of them which you missed out on.

Big deal, it's unintentional.