Seduction of the Internet

Surfacing again for a moment just to say this...

ie: Recent racial hubbub on line.

There are really some things that you shouldn't discuss on-line if you want to hold a civil discussion. The internet is a wonderful tool for many things, and it is a handy way to both reach a wide audience and communicate with those you want to from far away.

But if you want to be rightly understood and minimize your chances for being misconstrued, it's probably not a good place to put your philosophies. If you want to communicate, sometimes there's just no good substitute for a face-to-face conversation.

Unless, you have a skin of asbestos, and you really and truly aren't impacted by what others might say about you or your issue, not taking the issue into account.

I see it this way: some of these issues are too important to me to have them bandied about with internet drama and over reaction. If you matter enough to me that I want you to understand what I think in more than a cursory fashion, I'm going to meet you, or at the very least call you.

If you throw an issue out there, and you get blasted, debated, and dissected, what did you expect, given the communication medium you chose? Next time, choose more wisely, and if your emotions matter to you, keep your opinions closer to your vest. You see, no one conceives of you as a person here, but rather a persona, try as they might.

Cynical? Nah. Cautious and personal.

Catherine

Originally published at Writer Tamago. You can comment here or there.