Jayson Pang

Interested in exchanging ideas ...

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Some thoughts ... maybe rules ...

#1 Participation in social media can be a positive experience ... but know what you are getting into ... and you may want to set your terms for participation (at least internally) in advance.

#2 For most, participation is not a professional endeavor or a full time occupation. Beware the obsessives (may include the media) ... they can twist any situation or verbiage it to suit their narratives (think mudfights with pigs).

#3 Participation should not include unnecessary and unhealthy defense of posts/scoring of points. Beware (and ignore) the trolls, the posers and the catfish.

#4 Many/most posts will from those who felt there was something worth sharing ... they won't always be what some people want them to be. Being willing to share in a forum that solicits it is fine ... so long is the terms of participation are understood (beware the unmoderated site), the sharing may vary. The Internet age allows posts to be what the poster wants. An initial reaction or a researched/documented/publishable post .... a rant or a rave ... a joke ... an expression of support or dismay ... per the forum involved, any/all may be welcome.

#5 Motivations, knowledge, expertise, maturity and comprehension of a forum's participants concerning a subject will vary greatly. The more outrageous a comment, the more suspect the author is.

#6 Many discussion boards and Internet postings are intended to to be shared wth the world on the terms the participants choose (potentially anonymous, defamatory, etc.) They are not where many would choose to have serious/substantive discussions. Alternatives exist for such discussions. Reputable institutions have means for setting out facts (or at least generally agreed upon understandings ;')) if something beyond a discussion forum is intended.

#7 There are those who support free expression and care about the what other people think ... and than there are those who would suppress the expressions of others. Vitriol is a means of suppression.

#8 Participants should be willing to ignore, suspend, or shut down an account (or participation in a forum) rather than waste time/energy on excessive cyberspace activity. For most, attending to a real life is the priority ... not dwelling on their alternate online selves.

#9 (New) Be aware of bots and institutional (including foreign) campaigns to influence us via our online activity - it's scary in cyberspace ...