It does not mean that you can only say nice things to people.
It does mean I can say mean things or controversial things without any type of legal repercussion, although the public will hold my words.
What I'm getting at is, I come across tons of Youtube videos, blogs, and memes whose contents trigger long forum debates and angry, unnecessary arguing and insults that basically boil down to these fundamental question:
If you don't like it [the video, the post, the content being discussed in the video/post/photo/etc.], why are you reading/watching/looking at it?
If you don't like it, why don't you keep your negative opinions to yourself?
The answer is simple: Because I can. Because I have the freedom to watch these videos or read these blogs at my whim, and whether I'm praising or criticizing it, if there is a forum or comment section, I have the right to make any comments I wish about it, even if they are unreasonable or ill-informed. If you make it available for viewing on a medium that caters to the general public, you have to be ready to eat the criticism, because like it or not, people are gonna give it, and even if their criticism is false, illogical, or stupid, you can't tell them to leave the forum. You made it public!
I'd like to quote from one of my favorite tumblrs. The author of the tumblr Reasoning With Vampires does grammatical and satirical criticism of Stephenie Meyer's horrendous "novels" called the Twilight series. I'm sure you're all familiar with them. Anyway, her tumblr is brilliant, and she obviously gets a lot of flack from Twihards and other angry people. Her FAQ features some of their complaints:
IF YOU DON’T LIKE TWILIGHT, YOU DON’T HAVE TO READ IT.
Touché. Got me there. While I reflect on that astute observation, you might consider that if you don’t like my tumblog, you don’t have to read it. (Oh, what now?)
To all the people sore about comments made, remember this:
In subsequent or even preceding posts, I may be mean to people and criticize their actions. You can tell me no, get a life, you can't judge them, that's their life. But when these people make it public, whether that be on TV, in music, through the Internet, or in movies, it's fair game. I can say what I want.
It's my prerogative.
