Wonderful words, Dori Hartley.
FB IS INDEED real life.
For all it's bad press...over a four year period it has taught me how to be a BETTER PERSON.
And the death of a wonderful FB friend last year taught me to be very careful what I say to people.
His brother told me they read one of my comments at the FUNERAL!
We would do well to bear this in mind.
My rule is...never post anything you would not die for.
Post as if it WILL be yr last.
And exercise great caution with people's feelings- because some of these folk are at the end of their tether.
One poorly chosen word, or comment...& pfft.
They are gone.
Act as though someone is tallying this shit up.
Act as though it matters that the only keeper of the ledger is YOU.
These are REAL HUMAN BEINGS...not manga characters.
I have learned to be more patient, more considerate, & never to go away MAD. (or at least never go away 'angry')
If you truly care about your fellow man...
This matters.
All pretty good stuff...here...
& out in the world.
Thank for a great Post, Dori Hatley.
Hey John,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this honor. Lemme tell ya, if ever there was a perfect response, it's yours. You should copy and paste it in a response box over at Huffington Post so that others can see your thoughts. The article is getting a lot of attention, I think your response would be a great follow up.
You nailed it, especially with the manga line. It's funny, because that's how so much of this networking began, with people faking identities and pretending to be beautiful manga-like creatures -- all in some effort to reach out to others. Unfortunately, there were just so many fakes, all pretending and well, nothing worked out after a while.
I've learned this lesson over the last few years too, the lesson that says, "choose your words correctly." It's so true what you say about hurting people's feelings. I find that there's a boorish contingency 'out there' who goes about with the "Hey, I don't give a crap about your feelings" attitude, simply because they're hidden behind a computer screen. In the 'real' world, people wouldn't dare be so careless right to another's face. The internet tempts us to be callous -- that's exactly why we need to curb that temptation. Because being callous and shitty is not going to work out for anyone after a while.
Considerate kindness and sensitivity, as a written lifestyle is an acquired practice. And yes, because people do read our words, why not take some responsibility for them?
So, thank You, John, for taking up the mantle of considerate kindness and being an example of it.
-D
Thank you, Dori.
ReplyDeleteI didn't want to clog up your place with my EPIC comments (as they often tend to be) so infuture- unless it is short and sweet, I will PM you or otherwise.
plus I am loathe to start pestering you like a fanboy. you have so many other folk who need/deserve your valuable NYC minutes.
The reply stands, & I will gladly paste it onto the HP site.
PS...do I have permission to post this article on my wall? Thought I better check...
Best, and thank you,
JWA
Of course, please share the article, I would be honored. And my NYC minutes are available to you anytime, especially because I no longer live in NYC! I'm much closer to OZ than NYC!
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, please do share this in a comment box over at HuffPo. I really think others would enjoy and benefit from it.
Yours
D