Friday Wrap-Up

~*~*~

I can't think of a better way to end a week filled with (some might say self-induced) blog drama than to reflect on what I've learned about myself and others:

• People (generally, including me) are far more likely to criticize the negative than they are to praise the positive. I don't know why that is, but I don't like it and I will continue to work on not being one of "those" people.
• There really is such a thing as constructive criticism, but two key factors need to be present for it to get through - it needs to come from someone you respect and it needs to focus on the behavior, not the person.
• I don't write as well as I'd like to think I do. My intended message was muddled, and sometimes lost, in my posts on Monday and on Wednesday. I was very clear in what I thought I was saying, but based on comments, many readers were not.
• We all need to use the unfollow and unsubscribe buttons more freely.
  

~*~

That "Mark as SPAM" option blogger now has for comments? It seems to work, at least initially. I'm not sure what happens once a commenter is marked as SPAM, but I'm hoping future comments will automatically go to the SPAM comments tab. We'll see.

I like having options ...

~*~

Although social media does have a "dark side" (just like life) it can be a lot of fun too. Yesterday/this morning there was a conversation on twitter that made me chuckle. It involved two "normal" people (@jpryan06 and myself) and two "famous" people (If you watch Morning Joe on MSNBC).

I continue to be amazed at how social media allows "conversations" between people who would never have that opportunity in any other venue.

~*~*~