Play, Writing and Blogging

THIS IS A VERY SAD DAY FOR BLOGGING

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO REBLOG THIS POST TO SHOW YOUR SOLIDARITY FOR A FRIEND AND FELLOW BLOGGER – JASON CUSHMAN.

It’s recently come to my attention then a friend and fellow blogger has been permanently BANNED from WordPress.com.

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Jason Cushman’s blog HarsH ReaLiTy is going to be closed down shortly, which is a very sad end to an era of Jason doing so much for the WordPress community, and bringing NEW and PROGRESSIVE ideas into blogging. He is in blogging terms CHARISMA PERSONIFIED. Jason had this to say :

All blogging advice articles will be removed within 24 hours. The meet and greet threads will be removed by the end of next week. I appreciate everyone that has supported this website. –OM

Jason and I first came into contact when he invited me to join his “Project O”. I was pretty new to blogging at the time, and didn’t take part mostly because I didn’t really understand what he was trying to do. I watched Project O with curiosity, and was amazed at his ability to give MORE THAN 50 people a voice. It was an utterly staggering feat, one that I’m still impressed by. In hindsight I regretted my decision not to take part.

Luckily however Jason invited me as a guest blogger for a weekend, an opportunity which I’M ETERNALLY GRATEFUL. It was an exhausting experience, I devoted AN ENTIRE WEEKEND to it. BUT boy did I HAVE AN EXTREMELY VALUABLE experience. Mostly what he gave me was a voice and the confidence to actually “BE GOOD” at blogging.

IT WAS COLLABORATIVE BLOGGING, BLOGGERS HELPING BLOGGERS.

Jason has HELPED MANY MANY OTHER bloggers in similar ways. He also devoted a MASSIVE amount of time to his blog. Honestly I have no idea how he’s managed to reply to the HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF COMMENTS on his blog – I’ve struggled with tens of thousands on mine.

JASON CUSHMAN IS NOT A SPAMMER

He’s just simply not. I’ve seen him meet and greet people, always friendly, sociable, kind words, good sense of humour. He even sent me a message one day from the poolside whilst he was on holiday. HE LOVES TO SOCIALISE, and he’s got to be the least “spammy” person I know. If he sent a “ping” out to you then he genuinely was interested in connecting. That’s been 100% my experience of him.

I just left this message for him on his blog :

My “like” is to show solidarity Jason … and NO, I DO NOT LIKE what happened to you … I’m appalled actually that after doing so much for the community that you are treated like this … and to be accused of being a spammer, well that’s at the very least defamatory and at WORST AN UTTER LIE.

THIS IS A VERY SAD DAY FOR BLOGGING.

My thoughts are with you my friend, keep well 😀

Don

– http://aopinionatedman.com/2015/01/14/closing-harsh-reality-going-private/comment-page-1/#comment-264436

His content has nothing “spammy” about it. HE BLOGS ABOUT REAL, INTERESTING AND THOUGHT PROVOKING topics, that’s about as far from “spammy” as it gets. Plus he makes me laugh, and has done so on numerous occasions. So the guy has a very good sense of humour.

I appreciate Jason’s blog is not everyone’s cup of tea, which is fine, there are 80 million blogs on WordPress.com, so not everyone has to like him. Not everyone likes me, that’s life, I don’t care about it … BUT this is a significant event in blogging, for which I feel is a worthy cause to support.

So I’m writing this in solidarity and friendship to my friend Jason Cushman. I hope that some of you will also show your support for him, and show that we are united in the community against the bulling of people WHO DO A MASSIVE AMOUNT IN THE COMMUNITY TO HELP OTHERS.

COMMUNITY IS WHAT SEPARATES US FROM OTHER SOCIAL NETWORKS – SO PLEASE SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR JASON.

Unless of course you want to be part of a faceless generic intelligent spam network … up to you … not something I’m personally that interested in.

LASTLY – JASON – THANKYOU FOR YOUR HELP, ADVICE, SUPPORT AND FRIENDSHIP. GOOD LUCK AND DON’T BE A STRANGER 😀

Warm regards

Don

Comments are invited

Comments are often welcomed, provided you can string a legible, relevant and polite sentence together. In other cases probably best shared with your therapist, or kept to yourself.

218 thoughts on “THIS IS A VERY SAD DAY FOR BLOGGING”

  6. I am very sad about this too. What a truly sad day for blogging and freedom of speech. I posted about this the day it happened and was as a result blocked from following blogs, weirdly when I deleted the post after 24 hours the block was revoked. Someone somewhere is trying to censor what we write and post about. As I said before; ‘A very sad day indeed’ And I hope Jason comes back to WP.

  8. The saddest day in blogland, for sure 😦 But thanks to supportive efforts like this, today is another day and I’m so glad to hear WP has lifted the suspension!!! 😀 ♥ ❤

  9. I reblogging on marenasblog94.
    Saying this…
    I’m reblogging this because it doesn’t seem right to ban someone because people feel he is “spamy” (term used in this blog post).
    I would hope WordPress does research and what not before getting rid of a person’s blog altogether. Maybe a probation period to check him out?
    I don’t know who he is or anything about his blog. I can’t stand up for him persay but I can hope things work out for the best. Everyone deserves a chance.
    In the eyes of the law innocent until proven guilty right?
    (Sorry about your friend)

  10. Reblogged this on Living Life and commented:
    I’m reblogging this because it doesn’t seem right to ban someone because people feel he is “spamy” (term used in this blog post).
    I would hope WordPress does research and what not before getting rid of a person’s blog altogether. Maybe a probation period to check him out?
    I don’t know who he is or anything about his blog. I can’t stand up for him persay but I can hope things work out for the best. Everyone deserves a chance.
    In the eyes of the law innocent until proven guilty right?

  11. I don’t know him but have seen/heard of him in the blog-o-sphere, especially lately with this whole issue. I just read in a comment on another post that the suspension has been lifted, so that is good news for all.

  14. This is much appreciated. I am posting here, virtually verbatim, the post I put on Jason’s post:

    “Jason, I am very sad about this. You were one of the early “real” bloggers to follow Fiona’s Favourites and to encourage me. I don’t agree with, or want to read, everything you post, and my blog has a very different tone from yours. That said, I understand your goals and that you set out to be provocative. What freaks me out, is that people who don’t like what you do, don’t have to visit your blog or follow you. Similarly, if one follows a blogger and there’s a topic that they might find offensive – GIVE IT A MISS!!

    “I’m saying again that I come from a very different space and, dare I say, philosophical point of view, but have found you – yes, that very Opinionated Man – funny, quirky and most importantly, kind, generous and very encouraging.”

    As I noted in another post, I had thought of re-blogging these, but because, ironically, of advice from Jason to have, stay true to one’s blogging goals, I will not. That said, because I follow a number of bloggers who follow him because he followed me (if you get my drift), will re-post this comment 🙂

    Look forward to reading more from Opinionated Man and about his perspective of the HarsH ReaLity of life.

  16. I recommend you host your own wordpress blog. There are a lot of independent hosting providers which supports wordpress. There’s a difference between wordpress.com and wordpress.org. Org. is free to use on your own or via another hosting provider. Find a host with a lot less restrictions and use wordpress.ORG

    1. Hey John, yes that’s a good suggestion … the only issue is that with a self-hosted blog, posts don’t appear in the reader … so the community integration isn’t as smooth as it is with a wordpress.com blog …

  19. Reblogged this on barsetshirediaries and commented:
    Censorship should be used very carefully and it should be 100% correct if it means banning someone. From the supportive messages, I’d say the chances of censorship being correct here are about NIL. I hope there is an appeals process where messages of support will be taken into account.

  20. Surely there is an appeal process? The whole point of this is to follow and interact with other blogs. There can’t be a number we can/cannot follow. People who are not interested do not have to follow back, it not like he spams people.

  23. Very, very irritating and sad. Makes me wonder what can be done to help convince WordPress.com to reinstate his privileges. I’ve been following him for about 1 1/2 years and he’s been nothing but friendly, helpful, and genuine. Doesn’t sound like a spammer to me. And I found him before he followed me.

      1. And I’m very glad to see Jason’s been reinstated. Linda’s a great person. I’m glad she’s a contributor to my blog, actually.

  24. From what I understand, WP has taken exception at the number of blogs that Jason follows and consider him a spammer. They barred his ability to follow other blogs but it seems to have gone downhill very fast from there.
    I really feel bad for him because I know that underneath all that bluster is a really lovely guy who is helpful and caring (even if he says he isn’t). He’s helped me out and given me some opportunities as well. It’s just so sad.

    2. Yup, I totally understand why WordPress think they’ve done it … I just don’t actually agree with how they’ve justified it, how it was carried out and the lack of discussion on their part … at the end of the day they are the decision makers, so little we can do, apart from do Linda’s petition and express our disliking for what they’ve done …

  25. Reblogged this on niki1k and commented:
    I am sharing this to show my support for http://aopinionatedman.com/harsh-reality/ because of his website and the sharing of other blogs I have been introduced to many platforms- meaning I am reading other bloggers I know I would not have found on my own, thus I am learning various perspectives of others lives, being introduced to different writing styles and although I don’t network as I could or should I am still tapping into people all over the world.
    I am not sure how WordPress would label his sight as spam – yet Jason’s sight has created the collaboration a in this writing world platform that I wish we could get in this world- while you may not agree with everything said on his page everyone that wants to be heard has a chance to be heard even in the comments.

    1. I’ve done a further post which explains some more detail and Jason has the link to the support forum with the official WordPRess reaction on it … should answer your questions …

  30. I also followed Jason ‘s Blog for some time. Then i had to realise that we have very different opinions about some topics and de-followed. But I never experienced his articles as spam. They were full of interesting sometimes very controversial thought. I see no reason to close his blog because of this.

    1. Exactly, and you’ve taken an adult decision that you didn’t want to follow, and unfollowed … and totally we can’t go around shutting blogs because we don’t agree with them, that’s censorship !

  31. Pingback: The Harsh Reality | lindaghill

  34. Jason has always been Jason my entire two years on WordPress, Don. In fact, he and you were two of the first two bloggers to follow me. I followed back, and both you two have been kind and generous with your time and comments on your blogs and my blog ever since. Consistently. And passionately.

    I think that’s what blogging is about.

    You’re doing a good thing with your support of your blogging friend here, Don. Thank you. Thank you, Jason, if you’re reading here.

  37. Reblogged this on Truth and Hearts and commented:
    Reblogging this in support of OM. He was one of my early followers on my last blog, and even though I had a wee niche/personal blog, it was my first dab at “interacting”. Don’t understand why he would be banned or censored.

  38. I just read about another blogger, not as big as OM but had 10k followers.

    Kinda makes me wonder who’s next.

  41. I am not familiar with Jason or his blog, but I stand with him nonetheless. Because this is about censorship of free speech and truth. Jason is the 2nd blogger today that I am hearing is being banned for no legitimate reason. This is a pattern and we must fight this type of suppression and oppression. We outnumber the ‘Powers that be” and it is high time we stand up to these insidious bullies! ♥♥♥♥

  42. I’m pretty sure he was one of my first followers and I’ve always appreciated the support. We’re with you Jason.

  45. Very sad for him. Jason found me very early in my first few posts and offered encouragement and reblogs to help my account grow. Even with so many followers he always made the time to reply to comments. I found his blog entertaining, offensive, hilarious, informative and everything in between. I enjoyed reading his history and life posts as well. Hope things work out for him in the future. Tina

  46. Pingback: Three Posts Thursday – so much happend in a week | onehundredtwentythreedays

  49. I am not familiar with Jason Cushman’s blog but looking over some of his posts I simply don’t understand what the problems is. How sad, how awful, must be devastating after hours and hours of work. Just so so wrong.

  50. Reblogged this on Waiting for Prince Charming and commented:
    Please help and show support for a brilliant blogger who is the epitomy of “freedom of speech”.. Such a helpful and honest person… This news saddens me…

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