Again, I feel inspired by one of Kenrg's comments on one of my recent blogs, "Social Media: Are We All Frauds?", in which Ken concluded his comments with: It's not fraud or fakery. It's manners and common sense. And lessons we each need to learn the hard way for ourselves.
I generally agree with Ken, but tend to cringe at the concept of common sense, since it, in fact, doesn't truly exist. Common sense is a direct reflection of the family, society and culture in which each of us is raised - and because our individual experiences are unique, so is our idea of common sense.
Ken's excellent metaphor of the classic neighborhood pub, in which individuals tend to maintain a standard of behavior with the awareness that neighbors and work associates are nearby, immediately brings to mind the clueless semi-alcoholics who throw common sense out the window and let it all hang out - sometimes ruining the evening for everyone else.
The odd factor in social networks is the illusion, even if an individual is fully identified, that interaction is somehow anonymous - or that the same rules don't apply on Facebook as those in "real life". How much of what individuals share on Facebook would actually make the grade in a typical face-to-face chat with casual friends?
Of course, it's impossible to "block" someone in real life. But you can ignore them.
Yes, it's been said many times and many ways before, but the problem with common sense is that it's so uncommon. And, similarly, while I like to use the neighborhood pub metaphor, how polite and civil that pub is depends a lot on the neighborhood. Where my wife and I go, we're more likely to have a chat with the town's mayor than anybody who's going to cause any trouble. So, I stand by my metaphor, with a perhaps a caution about knowing what neighborhood you're hanging out in ;^)
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