Okay, so, had to take a few days for my husband’s knee surgery. Doing fabulous!
So, today, I figured I’d better get on with it, since already the spam crap has hit the blog. Cleaned that out and set it up for mobile users, and checked my e-mail. THAT provided fodder for today’s blog.
We will eventually get around to some specific topics, and hopefully draw a few more of you into a conversation, however, today’s is such a subject of contention for those of us who have ANY sense of manners or decency, or let’s go so far as to suggest common sense???
Being a member of internet groups.
Just because you are sitting at your desk, in your bed, in a cab, or on a plane, and have some privacy does not mean you throw all conventional behavior out the window.
Remember, if you have a gripe with someone in particular, or have more personal comments to address to or about that person, PLEASE do NOT involve the entire community in your drivel. BE AWARE that when you post to a group, how many people receive that post that has NOTHING to do with THEM and they DO NOT CARE about your personal preferences, empathy, or your other non-essential commentary.
Just because you are unemployed, retired, or otherwise just sitting on your ass wasting a beautiful spring day inside on the computer does not mean that they are. Many people lead very productive, busy lives, employed or not. For a variety of reasons, they choose to receive these messages individually and DO NOT CARE to be subjected to your ridiculous, no need to state to the public, comment.
SPARE yourself the reputation as a moron, and learn that on Face Book, you have the “private message” option, which is that little button on a person’s home page that says “Message.” Go to their page, put in their name and you will find it.
THERE is where the two of you can commiserate all day long about your bursitis or whatever the hell the issue is, that ONLY the two of you care about and need to discuss between the two of you!
There is also the little “chat” button on the bottom right hand corner that you can use to. That way, you can drivel with three or four people at once!
In Yahoo Groups, READ the GUIDELINES!!! When you join a group, give a BRIEF introduction of yourself, wait a day for everyone to give individual welcomes, and THEN address them as a group, thanking them for the warm welcome. You can e-mail them individually if more personal contact is made. No one cares to read about how you both love to make home made jelly and how you do it. If they do, they still do not want their phones, notebooks, computers or other devices binging on and off all day as you two go back and forth about the best way to cook up your apples.
If there is a topic on the board, then keep your post to the topic, DO NOT take up other people’s time with your lack of service by someone on the group, or BASH people. If you paid for something and didn’t get it, then take it up PERSONALLY OUTSIDE of the group.
On Face Book, keep your comments related to the TOPIC of the PAGE. Don’t wish people happy birthday, or bring up other people if they are not members of the PAGE GROUP, advertise your own work, or anything not related to the TOPIC. People have cross over interests, and go to those PAGES to enjoy the SUBJECTS of the PAGE, not deal with the same boring conversation that they get elsewhere.
ALSO, just because someone is a member of the same group, does not mean that they want to be your personal friend on Face Book. It also doesn’t mean that they do not like you if they do not accept your friend request. If they deal with you on a page, they may not feel the need to have you intertwined into their everyday life. People today lead complicated lives and compartmentalizing them via Face Book and Yahoo can really work for them.
It’s okay to make friends outside of the group and keep it that way. DO NOT TALK ABOUT OTHER GROUPS within the confines of a group for which all the members of said group are not members. Yahoo and Face Book groups are like churches, members get into it with one another and next thing you know, there’s a new church on the corner or a new group started up.
Lastly, let’s talk about photographs. IF YOU DIDN’T TAKE IT, DON’T SHARE IT WITH ANOTHER GROUP! On Face Book, if it requires more than clicking the “share” button to share it, then DON’T! Don’t share a friend’s album with your friends.
So pretend that instead of sitting alone, miles away from any of the people you interact with, where you feel safe making snide comments, or wasting other people’s valuable time with your drivel, that you have to face these people every day, and you might find that your internet behavior improves.
So, now that I have wasted some very valuable time inside, it is time to go outside into the gorgeous Spring weather.
Have a great day!
D. B.
You forgot to mention people who do not trim their replies down to what is relevant or reply to entire digests or conversations!
Sadly, there are several lists that I no longer frequent because of the off-topic chatter. I went to digest on two and have even stopped that as the number of digests filled with what should have been private conversations was excessive and repeated (often by cc’ing) on two other lists.
Yes, I did, didn’t I. Well, that is a VERY good point. Supposedly there are MODERATORS on these things, some of whom take their job much too seriously in some ways and not enough in others. I have been on some of those same types of sites, where mods threaten people for not cutting their posts, yet, those who do, get no acknowledgment, which is not particularly needed, but those who don’t, just keep right on leaving that stuff on there despite the IDLE THREATS. Just goes to show that so many people just don’t care about anything any more and don’t realize that letting little things go is how we as a country got in the mess we are in now. I don’t mean the occasional oversight, we all have these, and every now and then is not the issue. It’s those that just go waaaaaay off topic, and then you have this manifesto of sorts popping up to wade through on say, your smartphone???? I mean, people just flat think of no one but themselves these days and what they perceive as “their RIGHTS” to do stupid stuff beacuse it’s meant to be “fun.” Well, maybe they don’t have anything better to do, but the rest of us do. Is it so hard to just follow a few little rules. Is it so hard to just keep people in line those of you who call yourselves moderators??? Please don’t say you don’t have time, because if you set up the site, you are responsible for it. Take it down or pass on the responsibility to someone else who will do the job. THANK YOU for your comment!