Change is never easy, and so it is with the blog’s switch over to Facebook commenting. Many regular have disappeared, as they said they would, because they won’t go to Facebook. Others are having difficulty either finding the blog or navigating it.
About Facebook: People are concerned about privacy issues. I had no idea until last week at the venom directed at Facebook and the distrust in which it is held by many. People fear for their privacy.
As I have since learned, that does not have to be a concern. It is possible to set up a Facebook account with nothing more than your name. Click on my account, if you wish to see. There is nothing there about me or to even indicate I run this blog or make comments on it. Nor is it necessary to use your real name -- or any actual name.
It is permissible to open a second Facebook account, which is what I have done. My new account provides my name and nothing more. No one can learn anything more about me. I used a secondary e-mail account, which can be set up in seconds. Any mail that I might receive from Facebook -- and I believe there is a way to halt that -- I delete every few days.
I turned over an e-mail address and a password to Facebook, something I have done -- as has almost all of us -- with dozens of other web sites.
Sure, if you’re a person who likes to post pictures and comment on Facebook, you’re going to give up a lot about yourself. But you do not have to do that. You can give up nothing about yourself, if you wish.
The Post-Gazette IT crew is still working to make the navigation better. However, here are two links you might try if you are having a problem.
The first link, which is -- http://communityvoices.post-gazette.com/ -- takes you directly to the Community Voices home page. From there you can pick the story you want to read. When finished, click back to the home page and pick another story. This will allow you to avoid the comments sections, if that is your preference.
The second link, which is -- http://communityvoices.post-gazette.com/sports/bob-smiziks-blog -- takes you directly to the blog and the entire menu of stories, with comments, is there. If the comments are not your thing, it’s easy go through them by skipping down the page.
Either way works.
Many people use the links on the P-G web site to get to the blog. They have not been working 100 percent since the change. They are easy, but I suggest bookmarking one of the above links.They are more reliable.
