I am not sure about other people but one thing I absolutely HATE is being told what to think and what to do. People keep saying Australia is the lucky country, that we have freedom of speech and that we can pretty much do what we want, when we want, where we want.
It appears that even the Internet, which is the greatest way to share information, is not immune to those who would try and use it to stop the spread of factual information.
Here at myswag I am generally a lurker. I like to read, see what others are doing, have done, what they think and how they have solved problems. I like to read people's experiences of things they use, things they have seen and things their mates have used.
We were all novices at everything at some stage. Prior to the Internet we had to rely on what our "mates" had spent their hard earned on, what they had experience with and what worked for them. Indeed, I know I certainly "learnt" a heap sitting at the knee of my dad, his friends and relatives as they discussed the topics of the day, what they had just purchased, how good it was and what they would do differently if they had their time (and money) again.
I don't know about a lot of people here but certainly I like to research everything I can about a topic, about a product or about a service prior to spending my hard earned mon it. With my monthly power bill having trebled in the last five years I can ill afford not to. I am certainly more money than time poor.
I find it amusing that any company can complain about people doing exactly what dad, my uncles and their friends did, back in the day. They get to try and enforce their will upon me by threatening to take everything I have worked hard for just because I wish to state facts about a product, a service or some other experience that does not align with their view of the world. They are free to spread their view of their product or service on the internet from their perspective but they DARE to try and stop me from stating my factual experiences or those of my fiends with that product? myswag and any other internet sites are just the modern version of sitting at dads knee listening to stories.
Yep, the audience may be a bit wider and those "friends" are not friends that we know, they are friends that simply share a common love of whatever topic that thread or website is about. This "sitting at dads knee" listening to our friends stories about a topic we all know and love is the reason these sites exist.
I can understand the providers of those services or products having a disagreement with some of these discussions but the Internet is a two way street. Previously without the Internet the audience may have been smaller, but the companies or people had no right of reply. Nowadays anyone can get on and defend their ideals, their thoughts their products or their services as much as someone can relay theirs or their friends experiences with that product, good or service. This is what makes the Internet great.
But when a company comes along and threatens the ability of people to relay their experiences I get my back up. I make it my mission in life to ensure that me, or ANY SINGLE PERSON I know NEVER EVER has any experience with that company. I could care less if theirs is the best product in the world. I could care less if they have the best customer service in the world. My right to state experiences i have had with a product is sacrosanct. ANY company or person who infringes my right to free speech will certainly be the receiver of me spreading the word about that company.
I have been told I am in an influential person. My bosses both like and hate that - depending on how my point of view differs from their's at the time. Good bosses know how to use that influence, the bad bosses I have always had issues with. Suffice to say I believe I am good at getting my point across and getting people to see my way.
At last count I am on 25 forums that cover everything from politics to aviation to firearms to the environment to bush walking to 4wding to motorbike riding etc. I reckon I could conceivably have an audience of around 100,000 people (some forums have around 2000 members, others upwards of 40,000). Those 100,000 people may have ten friends each, which, if they believe what I believe or I can convince them of will speak with ten other people. That is a million people who could conceivably read or at least be directly or indirectly influenced by what I write or say. That is amazing to me.
So in these dealings I will make sure that any company that it tries to stop me from reading about or saying what I want that comes from mine, or my mates experiences, I will make sure those million people get the information of that attempt to stop me saying it. Good luck to anyone or any company that tries to stop that from occurring. You may be the bully, you may try and use "the law" to shut people up, but by god, you WILL NOT silence the people and stop the truth coming out. You should have tried to put your case forward, tried to fix any perceived errors. Not everyone will agree with you, but you could have tried. In fact if that happens I also tell people of those situations where a person or company tried to do the right thing. Even though the actual situation may be negative the outcome can be positive. But try and stifle me from having my say and all you are doing is delaying the inevitable.
To Brett, the moderators and the other owners of forums who may have been threatened by companies or individuals who try and censor people's factual statements, I will support your forums. I will not be hushed, and fear not, the good work these forums do will be equally spread to those million odd people as much as the word about those companies who threaten my right to free speech are. In doing this I WILL respect the owners and moderators stance on things, this is after all, their house and their rules, so nothing I do will have any way of threatening them personally or financially.
But if anyone thinks this sort of action will silence the people, will stop the truth coming out, then they simply do not understand the internet, social media or the way the modern world works. This is a not a flyer drop or a newspaper that you can stop the publication of.
To my fellow myswaggers and Australians, keep the faith.
Cheers
CB
