No no, it has nothing to do with washing your hands before blogging. But that’s a good practice too. “Health brings wealth” I always say.
What exactly is a Pontius Pilate blogger? Well, just in time for the Holy Week here in the Philippines, the Pontius Pilate blogger is someone who does not edit his or her posts for one reason or another. This is based on the biblical reference of Pilate when he said “what I have written I have written” when the Jews wanted him to change the INRI inscription (Iesu Nazarenus Rex Iudeorum or Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews) on the cross.
I’ve never known a blogger who doesn’t edit posts. And for the most part, bloggers are all into covert ops editing, which is my term for editing posts without a time stamp or text notification. This usually occurs when the editables have to do more with spelling, grammar and sentence construction.
But more often than not, adding a bold “EDIT” or “UPDATE” to the post helps inform frequent visitors that there have been changes to the post. But you know this already, as it really is common sense.
I guess the extreme Pilate blogger would never even dare delete a post that may have come off as offensive or worse, bordering on “non-disclosure agreement breaches.” The Pilate blogger stands by the code “what I have written, I have written” and puts this in front of prudence. It is a double edged sword as well as a trait that can be feared as well as admired.
UPDATE: Jason points out that a Pontius Pilate blogger has more to do with washing his hands off things, namely the ill effects of link baiting:
And to me, a Pontius Pilate blogger is one who puts up linkbait posts and then washed his hands of the consequences by saying “oh, I never really meant to say that†or “hey, I never thought people would react that way†or “jeesh, you guys are reading too much between the lines.â€
Linkbaiting has gotten such a bad name. I state my analogy with how, in the real world, you can equate link baiting with a sexy girl on the cover of the magazine.
Linkbait tactics or not, the important thing to do is always be mindful of mistakes and make necessary and sincere amends for them 🙂
9 replies on “Are You A Pontius Pilate Blogger?”
Editing posts has been crucial for me since I really want to improve my writing, unfortunately I always tend to forget to update the timestamp as well.
*memo to self: don’t forget the timestamp
Funny, I thought Pontius Pilate was better known for the washing of the hands episode rather than the “what I have written I have written” remark. And to me, a Pontius Pilate blogger is one who puts up linkbait posts and then washed his hands of the consequences by saying “oh, I never really meant to say that” or “hey, I never thought people would react that way” or “jeesh, you guys are reading too much between the lines.”
Oops, “washes his hands of the consequences” and not “washed his hands…”
I usually only edit my post when I see misspelled words. Other than that, I don’t. Even if it means my grammar is horrible. (As always the case, though.)
So what do they call those who do edit posts? When I edit published posts, I only indicate that it was edited or updated only if a significant portion of the post was changed. If not then, I leave it as is. 🙂
I’m guilty… welll sort of. I never thought to mark posts as such as sometimes the “updates”/”edits” are very, very minor–meaning no need for my readers to read it again (well, that’s how I feel) but will take your suggestion–update timestamp, indicate UPDATE/EDITED.
Thanks!
I don’t usually edit posts, unless for grammar reasons. So I guess I am a Pontius Pilate blogger.
But I do know of someone who’s been making noise lately and it’s obvious he’s just linkbaiting. Hehehehe.
nice term “pontius pilate blogger” hehe…
i don’t edit posts except to correct grammatical/typo errors…sometimes i look back at previous posts and cringe at how cheesy/stupid they are, but i just leave them alone since those posts represented my frame of mind at the time
How funny.