MckMelodrama

I've been thinking a lot about integrity in blogging lately ~ it started with the great grabfest that was BlogHer'09 and the tweets flying fast and furious about bloggers who are (essentially) in it for the "stuff". Whether it's swag bags, big corporate freebies, the money or even the adoration of many fans and readers ... bloggers who aren't in it for love but for the stuff.

And then MckMelodrama started on a (rather) large blogger's site

It was revealed through public records that a respected Christian blogger is in dire financial straights with having 2 homes in foreclosure in the last 8 months. She's called the police twice last year on her prince of a husband for domestic violence during her high risk pregnancy (both times he pled guilty with a lesser charge dropped). And her youngest child is in & out of dire medical condition of which she tweets. Constantly.

While I do completely agree with the Mckfollowers in that she does have the right not to discuss parts of her life on her blog (financial crisis, marital crisis, etc) I cannot condone her recent desire to downplay the revelation of her husband's multiple arrests for domestic violence/disturbance. It scares me to see any woman brush allegations of this nature under the rug ~ but especially a woman with so many small children in the home. These small children cannot defend themselves or remove themselves from dangerous situations should that need arise, I would hope that at the very least she's able to be honest with herself about the situation for their sake.

I, personally, would be too crushed to discuss one foreclosure on my open blog, two would be humiliating for me. I think at the very least we have to be thankful that she's not playing a "My child is very ill, my husband's job has suffered & we are loosing our house ~ please help! Send donations!" card. (Although that could come any day now, especially seeing as her local Fox station seems to love doing stories on Mcktrainwreck.)

While I don't agree with other bloggers who are crying "Munchhausen's!" over the situation, her son's health and treatment does give her a certain amount of attention, hand holding and adulation that she wouldn't get just being a mommy to 4 small kids & one (apparently stressed & angry) husband. Maybe that's not healthy ~ but neither is the unparalleled dedication and adoration of the Mcklovers

I've been watching Mckblog and several AntiMckblogs, watching the drama unfold and I have to say that I do feel bad for the girl at the center of this storm. It seems that she's trying to portray the life she wants to have and glossing over the reality of what she lives every day. No blogger is 100% honest about their lives - there are two sides to every story & even your IRL BFF keeps secrets about things that are too painful to look at. I would never want my life dissected the way Mckblogger's has been, but that's why I don't even allude to the idea that my blog is 100% of my life. 60% maybe .... 80% on a really good day. My issue with Mckblog is that this glossy veneer is purported to be her real life. She's alluded to the fact that there were marital problems & they are in counseling ~ what she's glossed over is that this was court ordered counseling on his part.

While I can see why her supporters would be upset to have their friend's troubles revealed openly, all of this information is public record and easily found. When Mckblogger stood up for responsibility and integrity in blogging during the April Rose situation, she opened herself up for the same scrutiny. When she began blogging the minute details of her son's medical care and giving blow by blow tweets, she opened herself up for scrutiny of her parenting & her handling of the situation.

All that being said, the venom found in her supporters defense statements leads me to think that "they doth protest too much". There are more people seeing the holes in Mckblogger's story, they just feel guilty - as if they are betraying a trusted friend to think that she's not worthy of the platform they've placed her on. But in truth, no human is worthy of the platform she was on last week.