It has come to my attention people have started to accuse me and many others of bias inappropriately. This is not one single person, its many Blocklanders. Sometimes it happens in game. Sometimes it happens on the Blockland Bulletin blog. Sometimes I see people accuse each other of bias in topics. I think this word has started to be badly misused and Blocklanders need to have a hard think about what this means.
bias |ˈbīəs|
noun
1 prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another, usually in a way considered to be unfair : there was evidence of bias against foreign applicants | the bias toward younger people in recruitment | [in sing. ] a systematic bias in favor of the powerful.
It is not bias when somebody writes something you disagree with.
It is not bias when somebody refuses to agree with you.
It is not necessarily bias if somebody writes about someone or something in a negative way, if they have reasonable means of doing so.
It is not bias to have an opinion.
If somebody writes something focusing on someone, for example "Blockhead was caught stealing diamonds. Users are very angry with him. Blockhead has had a troublesome past. In 2008, he also stole gold.", this is not bias, so long as what is written is factual. A balanced article does not necessarily have to include something positive about Blockhead to be unbiased, if the main story is about his stealing.
I'll be interested in seeing if anyone else has been similar issues recently.
