Friday, June 17, 2005
Monica's Dialogue with Blogger
This is just some comic relief. My friend Monica (whose blog, which I miswrote earlier, is www.monicaintheworld.blogspot.com) was just in China. She was able to post items on her blog but couldn't view the blog or read any comments written back to her. So she wrote the blog company, Blogger, to find out what she could do about it. Here is the dialogue; I just cut and paste it because it is so funny:
Blogger Support wrote:
Hi there,
Thanks for contacting Blogger Support. Since we cannot always respond personally to every message we get, we encourage you to check Blogger Help, where you can find answers to many common questions. Here are some of the top articles which could help you out:
CHANGES ARE NOT APPEARING ON YOUR BLOGhttp://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=639A BLOG IS MISSING FROM YOUR DASHBOARDhttp://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=656HOW TO DELETE A BLOGhttp://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=70THIRD-PARTY ADD-ONShttp://help.blogger.com/bin/topic.py?topic=40HELP WITH HTML OR CSS CODEhttp://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=1116
If you don't see what you need in these articles, you can use the searchform in the upper right corner of any Blogger Help page. Be sure also to check our Status page and our Known Issues page. These cover many known bugs and current operational problems. BLOGGER STATUShttp://status.blogger.com/KNOWN ISSUEShttp://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=791
If your question or problem is not addressed anywhere in our documentation, please simply reply to this message and let us know. We will help you out as soon as we can. Thanks for your patience.
Sincerely,
Blogger Support
From: Monica Goracke
Subject: Re: [#224977] Problems viewing blog
Date: Wed, 1 Jun 2005 19:00:53 -0700 (PDT)
Hi,
I don't see my problem addressed in any of these articles. And, for some reason I'm unable to access the "Status" page. In advance, thanks for helping me out!
Monica
Blogger Support wrote:
Hello Monica,
Thanks for writing in. I visited your blog and was able to view it. Please try viewing it again. Stephanie
Blogger Support
From: Monica Goracke
Subject: Re: [#224977] Problems viewing blog
Date: Tue, 7 Jun 2005 21:32:00 -0700 (PDT)
Hi Stephanie,
I've concluded that the Chinese government is in fact censoring my blog, because I've tried from several different computers over the last several days, and I've also tried to look at a couple of friends' blogs that are also at blogspot.com but have been unable to access them. And finally, I also tried to look at a website about Tibet but that was blocked too. It's okay though (sort of) because I can still post, and my mom has been sending me the comments that I receive. So, please feel lucky that you live in a free country and can look at whatever website you want!
Take care,
Monica
Blogger Support wrote:
Hello Monica,
Thanks for keeping us posted. I'm glad to hear that you were able to resolve your problem. Sincerely,
Stephanie
Blogger Support
From: Monica Goracke
Subject: Re: [#224977] Problems viewing blog
Date: Wed, 8 Jun 2005 20:30:21 -0700 (PDT)
Dear Stephanie,
My dad emailed me about a New York Times article confirming that China in fact restricts blog access and that it's cracked down even harder recently after millions of Chinese used blogs and other personal communication devices to organize protests against Japan gaining a seat on the UN Security Council. It wasn't that the Chinese government disagreed with the protests, they just don't want individuals to be able to communicate outside of state channels. Here's the article - it's quite chilling, actually - in case you want to read it: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/08/international/asia/08china.html?oref=login
It's ironic, don't you think, that I was able to read the article but I can't read my own blog.
Is Blogger doing anything about this censorship? Complaining to the US government, or China's government, or anything like that? I would think it's in your business interest, just as much as your moral interest, to oppose oppression and censorship everywhere. Also, I don't remember reading anything on the Blogger website warning users that if they go to China, they won't be able to read their own blogs or anyone else's. That might be a helpful warning to post. It might get readers interested in the issue of censorship and how it affects them personally.
Just some thoughts, Stephanie - thanks for your time.
Monica
Blogger Support wrote:
Hello Monica,
Thank you for your feedback. We are always interested in ways to improve the blogger experience.
Sincerely,
Stephanie
Blogger Support
This is what I wrote her back:
Dear Stephanie,
Are you a person, or a computer?
Monica
Still waiting for her/its response....I'll keep you posted.
Blogger Support wrote:
Hi there,
Thanks for contacting Blogger Support. Since we cannot always respond personally to every message we get, we encourage you to check Blogger Help, where you can find answers to many common questions. Here are some of the top articles which could help you out:
CHANGES ARE NOT APPEARING ON YOUR BLOGhttp://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=639A BLOG IS MISSING FROM YOUR DASHBOARDhttp://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=656HOW TO DELETE A BLOGhttp://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=70THIRD-PARTY ADD-ONShttp://help.blogger.com/bin/topic.py?topic=40HELP WITH HTML OR CSS CODEhttp://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=1116
If you don't see what you need in these articles, you can use the searchform in the upper right corner of any Blogger Help page. Be sure also to check our Status page and our Known Issues page. These cover many known bugs and current operational problems. BLOGGER STATUShttp://status.blogger.com/KNOWN ISSUEShttp://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=791
If your question or problem is not addressed anywhere in our documentation, please simply reply to this message and let us know. We will help you out as soon as we can. Thanks for your patience.
Sincerely,
Blogger Support
From: Monica Goracke
Subject: Re: [#224977] Problems viewing blog
Date: Wed, 1 Jun 2005 19:00:53 -0700 (PDT)
Hi,
I don't see my problem addressed in any of these articles. And, for some reason I'm unable to access the "Status" page. In advance, thanks for helping me out!
Monica
Blogger Support wrote:
Hello Monica,
Thanks for writing in. I visited your blog and was able to view it. Please try viewing it again. Stephanie
Blogger Support
From: Monica Goracke
Subject: Re: [#224977] Problems viewing blog
Date: Tue, 7 Jun 2005 21:32:00 -0700 (PDT)
Hi Stephanie,
I've concluded that the Chinese government is in fact censoring my blog, because I've tried from several different computers over the last several days, and I've also tried to look at a couple of friends' blogs that are also at blogspot.com but have been unable to access them. And finally, I also tried to look at a website about Tibet but that was blocked too. It's okay though (sort of) because I can still post, and my mom has been sending me the comments that I receive. So, please feel lucky that you live in a free country and can look at whatever website you want!
Take care,
Monica
Blogger Support
Hello Monica,
Thanks for keeping us posted. I'm glad to hear that you were able to resolve your problem. Sincerely,
Stephanie
Blogger Support
From: Monica Goracke
Subject: Re: [#224977] Problems viewing blog
Date: Wed, 8 Jun 2005 20:30:21 -0700 (PDT)
Dear Stephanie,
My dad emailed me about a New York Times article confirming that China in fact restricts blog access and that it's cracked down even harder recently after millions of Chinese used blogs and other personal communication devices to organize protests against Japan gaining a seat on the UN Security Council. It wasn't that the Chinese government disagreed with the protests, they just don't want individuals to be able to communicate outside of state channels. Here's the article - it's quite chilling, actually - in case you want to read it: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/08/international/asia/08china.html?oref=login
It's ironic, don't you think, that I was able to read the article but I can't read my own blog.
Is Blogger doing anything about this censorship? Complaining to the US government, or China's government, or anything like that? I would think it's in your business interest, just as much as your moral interest, to oppose oppression and censorship everywhere. Also, I don't remember reading anything on the Blogger website warning users that if they go to China, they won't be able to read their own blogs or anyone else's. That might be a helpful warning to post. It might get readers interested in the issue of censorship and how it affects them personally.
Just some thoughts, Stephanie - thanks for your time.
Monica
Blogger Support
Hello Monica,
Thank you for your feedback. We are always interested in ways to improve the blogger experience.
Sincerely,
Stephanie
Blogger Support
This is what I wrote her back:
Dear Stephanie,
Are you a person, or a computer?
Monica
Still waiting for her/its response....I'll keep you posted.
Comments:
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That's just too funny. I don't know why I expected a better response from the people at Blogger, but I did. Sigh.
And then there's the whole issue of China and it's propensity to restrict freedoms out of fear, on which I won't comment. Frustration.
And then there's the whole issue of China and it's propensity to restrict freedoms out of fear, on which I won't comment. Frustration.
Somehow I expect more from Blogger. You'd think the open candor of blogging would be reflected in their service. But then, who knows what other issues they face. Poor Stephanie.
Love, iDad
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Love, iDad
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