Here’s what you won’t find in the blogosphere, on any vlog, or anywhere else on the Internet.

Let’s be real here for a moment. I’ve heard people elsewhere, especially on Twitter and YouTube, expecting people to give completely 100% unbiased, accurate, honest, fully disclosed information. I’m sorry, family, but that is NOT how it works. Tik Tok, YouTube, any social media platform you can point at, is full of opinions. Academia is the last place I can remember getting straight, honestly researched facts, and even then there was a degree of bias because it was coming from a human teacher.

Sure, there are hard facts in science that are mostly verifiable and accurate within a margin of error. But when it comes to anything social? Sorry, there’s going to be some opinion entering into the equation somewhere. Anthropology, Sociology, Psychology, and even Archaeology to a certain degree, are riddled with opinions. Any time humans observe a phenomenon culturally or psychologically, there will be some degree of bias.

You can’t expect Mainstream Media to give you straight answers.

There was a lot of wink-wink, nudge-nudge when I was in some of the upper end reporting classes in college. There was sort of an unwritten rule that you were supposed to be “unbiased” knowing full well your bias was going to be how your employer wanted it to sound. Journalism students take classes in ethics and media law at most accredited universities. It doesn’t mean all of that knowledge sinks in properly.

Don’t believe me? Look at Fox News. Look at any “liberal” newspaper in America. I think they maybe still print newspapers somewhere. Maybe? Otherwise, they’re online.

Early newspapers in England and the United States are hilarious to read. Especially the ones from smaller towns and villages. There was absolutely no expectation of unbiased journalism back in the day. Not even in the obituaries. They were nuts back then.

Television reporting can possibly be unbiased, but I’ve seen weather reports that were based on someone’s agenda. This isn’t even the president of the Tinfoil Hat Society talking.

“The weather is going to be sunny, 70 degrees, with a light breeze from the southwest and a tiny chance of a little rain for the big event downtown this weekend. (This portion of the news sponsored by the company running the big event this weekend,)” said the weather guy.

When you get to the actual event, it’s cold, raining (practically snowing,) and miserable. I’ve literally had this happen. But they keep the forecast on the upside to make sure the turnout for their corporate sponsor is appeased.

It gets crazier at the national level. See also Fox News. See also CNN. It’s all based on someone’s political agenda. I’m not talking about editorials here. Read the comment section or Facebook page for any news site. Even a house fire will have someone’s politics on display.

We see it in Iowa with The Iowa Capitol Dispatch. We know they’re going to be super liberal, anti-Republican, anti-Kim Reynolds, anti-Trump. This is somewhat typical of Iowa journalism, but there are more conservative sources somewhere if I look for them.

Terms of Service and you.

Basically, every social media platform including blogs, Tik Tok and YouTube have an agreement that we all pretty much gloss over and click “agree” before we use whatever service it is. Otherwise, you can’t create an account, right?

Those terms of service don’t necessarily say anything about truth in reporting, full disclosure, or unbiased facts. As long as someone isn’t violating those specific terms of service in some fashion (racism, nudity, extreme violence, commission of a crime, legal advice, political secrets, etc.) they can publish anything they want. There really is no accountability. YouTube, WordPress, or Facebook could care less about what we publish as long as we stay within their specific guidelines.

There is no expectation of Freedom of Speech.

Contrary to what some people would have you believe; the First Amendment of the United States Constitution does not actually apply to the Internet. There are plenty of countries that regularly censor what can be said, by whom, and where. It might come as a surprise, but some countries don’t enjoy the social media that we have in the US and most of Europe.

I hear the cries of anti-LGBTQIA, racists, and other bigots on Twitter and YouTube about being “censored.” I hear, “You can’t do that to me. I have rights!”

Actually, no one has the “right” to violate a platform’s Terms of Service. That’s why we sign the agreement to those terms. If someone gets banned, suspended, or maybe even have the local authorities banging on their door, it’s because their post got reported for abusing the terms of service.

Like I said, you can say anything you wish within the Terms of Service. Not all of these platforms have the exact same terms, but most are fairly similar, and you can find a link to a copy of that agreement somewhere on their home site any time. Sometimes we even have to sign the terms again. Fun stuff.

Where’s Jeff going with all of this and how does it relate to TTRPGs?

So, I’ve been watching a lot more YouTube than usual lately. I’ve seen countless examples in I don’t know how many videos where someone complained about how a different YouTuber was full of sh🦆t or lying to the audience, etc about something in the TTRPG sphere. There’s no boss, teacher, or editor on social media platforms to moderate what is said or shown to the TTRPG community. Where would one even start?

I’m just as guilty of taking advantage of the low-no accountability here on the Internet. I’ve said things that inevitably rubbed someone the wrong way. The only difference is, I’d rather take responsibility for it than get involved in another pointless Internet war.

Sometimes it’s not a matter of what was written because all some people read is a title and wherever their name was mentioned. How not to gain a reputation for my blog, I guess. It’s always some damn thing. I still feel really bad about that one specific incident.

I’ve seen YouTubers say much nastier things about one another than I’ve ever said on my blog about anyone. It proves that gamers can be really ugly toward one another, especially members of the opposite sex. Incels are alive and well in the TTRPG community it seems. It’s not enough to violate any platform’s Terms of Service, but it would be enough to enrage the people being called out in such a vulgar fashion.

I couldn’t bring myself to be so nasty just for the sake of getting attention. But this brings us back around to what I’ve been saying. What you see in print, on audio, and even on video- if it’s on the Internet, it’s probably someone’s opinion. There’s always going to be a little bit of bias in some regards.

There are no do-overs in Internet media.

The other thing that people seem to inevitably forget about is once a video, stream, even written in a blog, you’re never getting it back. It’s always going to be floating around the Internet somewhere. All it takes is for someone to hear/see something really juicy and hit the download button. You can delete the original, but there’s really no way to download something off of another person’s device. Then what do you do?

The other thing people forget is that if someone is creating content for social media, videos, live streams, etc it makes them a public figure. That means other people can “name drop” said public figure as it relates to their video, something they said, the fact that they exist in the TTRPG community (or wherever,) and so forth.

Combine public figure with the idea that once it’s on the internet? That’s a potential recipe for disaster. Even the most seemingly innocuous comment or hot take can blow up into something very, very ugly for everyone involved. If it can go horribly awry accidentally, imagine how bad it might be for someone doing it intelligently.

The bottom line is: Don’t be that person.

Luckily, I know a lot of very mellow, easy going, and/or positive people on some of these platforms that take everything in stride. People can talk smack about them all day and these friends take it in stride and just glide right past it. I admire (you) so very much (you know who you are.) If you think it might be you, it probably is. Y’all are a great bunch around here.

But I just had to blow off steam. This one guy I’ve been listening to really makes me want to break a board over his head in the middle of a wrestling ring. That’s the nice version, anyway. I’m sure most of my friends around here wouldn’t go to the extremes. But please, remember to be kind. Don’t be the guy shouting obscenities about another YouTuber to the rafters just to get attention. It’s not cool.

Last thought before I go to bed.

It’s always my opinion. We might agree. We might not agree. My goal is to try to find some common ground.

Many TTRPG players and GMs are passionate people. We take our hobby damned seriously. We love TTRPGs and everything that goes into them. It’s similar to musicians or muscle car fanatics. Trust me, people don’t last long talking mad smack about the other guy in those communities, either. Very rarely is dumping on one’s fellows considered an appropriate behavior. My advice is: Don’t be that guy.

Thanks for stopping in. I appreciate you every day. Take care. Please be kind.