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July 05, 2009
"Play Time" on the Internet is Over. WANTED: A Few Good Rules.
Are you really in Club Ned? Certainly, if he were real, Ned Beatty's character Bobby in the movie adaptation of the James Dickey novel Deliverance would be permitted to write in the blogosphere using a pseudonym. "Chattooga River Cutie", maybe. Those not in Club Ned? Real name, please. (Photo: Warner Bros.)
Life and Work are both supposed to be Fun and Meaningful. We can still get both. And if everyone wants to be a "junior journalist" on the World Wide Web, that's fine, too. But you need a few rules.
You need a few good, and intuitive, Internet rules for lawyers, non-lawyers, business people, academics, middle managers, CEOs, bloggers, commenters, students, sales people, Pulitzer winners, Fulbright scholars, store clerks, your Mom, Gen-this/Gen-that, your demented Uncle Seamus, and the 70-year-old guy across the street with strong views about Sarah Palin, Wall Street and the Cubs.
You can't, of course, legislate rules, and enforce them, for the Internet.
You can, however, demand of yourself and others--in your own spheres and "virtual communities"--a bit of fair play, credibility and stepping-up:
1. Tell people who you are. Your real identity. Demand that others do the same. Virtual sandboxes are fun for everyone. Make them a separate zone(s), maybe. But anonymity should not be the norm. Exceptions, e.g.: CIA undercover operatives; Cuban, Iranian, Chinese dissidents; abused housewives; serious risk-takers, productive radicals and genuinely-deserving victims.*
2. Be accurate. You just gave us your name. Try to get it right. Work at your content. Don't waste our time.
3. Be willing to take a hit. Again, you just gave us your name. You're without armor--we are proud of you. Now step up and take the pain, if you are challenged, criticized or even called a worthless cretin. That's the freight you pay. Respond if you want. But you have nothing to be ashamed of.
And, finally, our suggestion on anonymous "challengers". Ignore them. They are rarely worth your time or respect.
That's about all the rules you need.
*E.g., Not okay: Law students, associates or practicing senior lawyers with delusions that they were Federalist Papers authors in a previous life. Okay: Foul-mouthed but respected and mega-talented members of Lincoln's Inn with radical free-speech agendas; the people in Utah who just started up a hopelessly outrageous and funny Anti-PC site called "Dwarf-Tossing 101"; and certain men from Georgia or Tennessee writing about fishing, hunting or camping trips with their buds on the ill-fated weekends that have gone awry.
Anonymity: Reserve it for special cases. For people who need it. Keep The Club small.
Posted by JD Hull at July 5, 2009 11:59 PM
Comments
Still interviewing. Let you know by the Fall.
Posted by: Hull at July 4, 2010 09:12 PM
pff..marry me and you can have any hair you like.
Posted by: Ruthie at July 4, 2010 02:17 PM
whats wrong with my hair?
Posted by: Ruthie at July 4, 2010 02:13 PM
Thanks, Princess Ruthie. And by the way you need to change your hair.
We really do wish the Internet had a "stand-up" ethos--it doesn't. Cowards are cool. Mediocrity is fine, too. The Net is not my favorite neighborhood.
Posted by: Hull at July 3, 2010 09:15 PM
I'm proud of who I am and what I have to say. If people don't like it they're usually
a) insecure
b) jealous
c) spineless
d) failed
or a combination of all of the above.
The people who criticize me publicly I don't have a problem with. It's the ones who say nothing but bitch behind your back that you have to watch.
I also find they're the exact same people who enjoy laughing at the failures of others because they don't have the courage to take a risk themselves.
Posted by: Ruthie at July 3, 2010 07:13 PM
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