As are many in these merry days, I am re-considering my relationship with the incessant yammering of the body politic. How to stay in proper balance with the information needed as a responsible citizen, of course, and how to stay somewhat shielded from the needlessly disturbing and unmoored. Equally important is how to deflect the overwhelming amount coming toward us; we have to swim strongly just to avoid going under. How are you managing to stay afloat?
I’ve run across a highly annotated list of rules from some enlightened and witty admins, and am thinking about posting them above my keyboard, as a buffer to the flow. The framing is conventional… no bullying, be kind, respect everyone’s privacy, etc. But the fine print?
In addition to ‘no bullying’: “No irrelevant content or country and/or culture negativity. No grammar police, spelling patrol, typo tyrants.”
In addition to ‘be kind’: “Please remember this is an APPRECIATION group, not a moaning group. Be uplifting and generous.”
In addition to ‘no promotions’: “Give more than you take. We can all Google, no need to provide links. No rambling, wittering on, pointless comments.”
And this good advice for life: “All must be real. No AI, no fake, no memes, no wishful thinking.”
They go on to say: “Abusive comments, criticism or lack of respect will result in a ban. Please remember this is a fb group and not a lifestyle.”
At the bottom, these wise folk list the comments that will be removed. The long-ish list includes “boring”, “chatterbox nonsense”, “nonsensical”, “killjoy”, and “you’re just not getting the point of the group.”
And, perhaps best, this last, a manifesto under the title “Whatever”: “This is not a group to express your particular view of how it is, seriously. We all have had experiences, get over it, no one cares. Deal with it. This group is NOT about your opinion, you live, you learn, or you die stupid. This is not a group about you. Get with the game plan or leave.”
Need I note that this group is not based in this country? See “wittering on”. There will always be an England.
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Photo by Wylde Hare, LLC. Feel free to share.
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