Sunday Morning Reflections: The Rules of Engagement

I woke up knowing exactly what I wanted to write about for Sunday Morning Reflections. I’m not as off-track as usual because it’s a topic most of us deal with all the time, the rules of engagement. There have been a few blog posts written about the topic and even a guest post from my good pal, Joan Whitman Hoff that hit on certain aspects of what the rules should be.

I’m an administrator in three different forums on Facebook. I share the “job” in each with several different people. In one of the forums this past week a photographer decided it was his job to share a piece of the discussion with the client. The client wasn’t his and he had to do a little work to even find her. This happened once before – a member of the forum chose to take something from a discussion and share it outside the group with the client. In both cases the photographers felt it was their responsibility to share issues taken out of context with clients who weren’t theirs!

So, here’s my point. For a group of artists who get incredibly upset when somebody uses one of your images without authorization (and you should), then why do some of you not respect the conversations that take place in a forum the same way? Why would you not treat other people with the same respect you demand yourself? 

Being an Administrator is a tough enough job without feeling like you’re on playground duty at an elementary school! Every week somebody reports a post they don’t like because of the way the discussion has gone off track. Often they’re right and it does need to be pulled, but why put us in the position in the first place?

So, here are some suggestions for the Rules of Engagement, once again.  And, if you feel I’ve missed any, feel free to let me know and we’ll add to the list!

• If somebody has already said it, you don’t need to add your comment.
• Be respectful of other artists.
• If you don’t like somebody’s work, you don’t need to sugar-coat your comments, but you don’t need to be Freddy Krueger either!
• Appreciate the candid discussions being shared in the forums you enjoy. People are there to share ideas with you, but not outside the forum.
• It’s not your job to be the ethics committee for anybody’s business except your own.
• Last but not least, when you do get caught behaving like a jackass, own your own shit! (Apologies to anyone offended for the way I stated that, but there really isn’t a better expression.)

What a kick it would be if everybody communicated like my buddy Levi Sim reminded us all once, “Act like your grandmother was watching you!”

And, on that note, it’s time to wish all of you a terrific Sunday. It’s a beautiful day in South Florida and I hope wherever you are it’s the same. Regardless, it’s a great day for a few eleven-second hugs with people you care about and time to appreciate everything you have. Watching the news this week, there was one horrible story after another about storm victims and their losses. There’s so much we take for granted.

Happy Sunday everybody and thank you for your friendship, support and feedback. As sappy as it might sound, it’s really an honor to share a Sunday morning with you.