Errors in Judgement
Sometimes we make decisions based on a spur of the moment emotion. We read or hear something we disagree with, and take it to a higher level than it probably needs to go.
This leads us to reacting.
It could be that we speak out about what we’ve just disagreed with. It could be that we place someone on a filtered list, whether it’s email, blog comments, Twitter feeds or similar. Sometimes we continue that reaction long after the reason for its initiation has passed.
Reacting is ordinary. Reacting is human. Reacting is our emotions telling us that we don’t like something. Yet continuing that reaction isn’t ordinary. Sadly, I’m guilty of that, and was reminded twice this week (once just this morning).
Which makes me kind of hypocritical.
Look around this blog. Aside from the posts about social media, marketing, tools and platforms, hopefully one of the biggest things that comes across is that of community. It’s in my tagline; it’s why I have guest bloggers; it’s why I have an open comments policy. To me community is everything, and I try and share ways for you to build community as well (if you wish to).
Holding onto reactions isn’t community building. Speaking out long after the fact isn’t community building. I know this, and yet I fell guilty to it, and it took the wise words of two very smart people to make me realize this.
So.
This is my apology, for letting extended reactions go on way too long. We’re all human and we all make errors in judgement. I promise not to let mine continue so long the next time.
17 Responses to “Errors in Judgement”
The image of heavy cologne wearers in an enclosed comment space is kinda disconcerting, Miss K
Introspection is like hindsight – wonderful afterwards, just sometimes wish it was in the present more.
When you consider the moment you press that SUBMIT button and publish your blog post, it doesn’t matter who adds a comment or when that comment is added, for it will always be read in the present by someone even if you last read it in the past.
I routinely find people commenting on blog posts that I wrote 6, 12, 18 months ago. Yet they add those comments today.
Thus, Danny, perhaps your introspection is more current than you imply.
.-= Ari Herzog´s most recent blog post …Satisfying Saturday: Loving Kikolani and 15 More Bloggers =-.
timely, relevant and thought provoking. great post
Hi Danny- with being inundated with bursts of information, comments and discussions, it’s easy to lose perspective. We can sway camps fairly easily with biased and opinionated factoids- we all visit this place regularly – keeping perspective overall is the humble way- you do it nicely sir.
Cheers!
.-= Craig´s most recent blog post …Welcome to SMW for 2010 =-.Another human post, Danny. Thanks mate. Realizing our mistakes makes us human and despite the fact we do make them, that is what makes us equal in the community.
I had a few items on the “to be dropped” list for far too long recently tossed them in the shredder. Feels good, glad you did same.
I may have to borrow that shredder, fella, but yes – definitely feels good. Cheers!
ahhh what a timely reminder that we are after all, only human. The best thing we can do is try walk our walk and forgive ourselves when we slip, learn from our errors and do our best to improve. Awareness is the key, if you aren’t conscious of the fact, that’s when you’re in REAL trouble
great postIn any community, there are the saints and the sinners, the more open and the more guarded. Continuing a reaction might be good or bad, but I don’t think it’s anti-community, though perhaps not good for certain types of communities. We can all definitely be less hypocritical, though. We should probably all hang that on our wall as Tina is doing!
.-= Roger Hjulstrom´s most recent blog post …Which Twitter are you using? =-.I guess the way I saw it is that I encourage openness and allowing differing points of view within a community, whether that be blog comments, tweets, whatever. So to then “ignore” for a point of view seemed counter-productive.
And yes, let’s see if Tina will print us up some calendars to that effect.
Does this mean I’m finally out of your email filter?
.-= John Haydon´s most recent blog post …Optimize your Online Giving for the Social Web (Day 9) =-.How did this comment get approved??
You’re one of the most real people I’ve had the fortune of meeting through Twitter, Danny. Everything you discuss here with us you live every day.
This post is just another great example of this. When folks like yourself make mistakes and apologize, in my eyes, it’s all good. You’re “one of us.”
And that’s what we love about ya
.-= Tim Jahn´s most recent blog post …Foiled Cupcakes =-.Hey there Tim,
Cheers, man. Coming from someone whose views I respect immensely, I’ll take that as a good sign. Have to arrange a Chicago visit soon, fella.
Making mistakes sucks. It’s embarrassing. It hurts. However; the benefits far out-weigh the negatives.
Growth. Development. Increase. Wisdom. Understanding. Knowledge. Awareness. Humbleness and more… and all a result of realizing, admitting and learning from our mistakes.
Thanks for being real – being human and setting a good example to follow Danny.
“Growth. Development. Increase. Wisdom. Understanding. Knowledge. Awareness. Humbleness.”
Love this, Mark, just love this.
Accepting our errors and evolving from it takes time and effort. Our reactions, being our habit is hard to break. Oftentimes, we are stubborn to let go of our false ways. But with realization comes wisdom, and with such wisdom comes the need for change. And with such change comes the battle with our self.
Groovy blog Mr. Brown. Here!Here!
A good&bad dialogue, a forum available to cook that up, is all kosher an creates engagement, which is the perfect ingredients for the community pie!!!
The community, thankfully, is full of variations in smarties, dummies, weirdos, shyness hoarders, freaks, cry babies, stoics and even people who wear colors that don’t match! Not to mention the ones who use a lot of cologne, then stand in tight spaces. Smelly stuff.
If us humans weren’t occasionally ‘hypocritical’ we’d miss a great opportunity to err and to err is to be human. A dose of hypocrisy isn’t entirely unhealthy. More than a dose, well, if one often gets drunk on it, that’s unhealthy.
As you know and so many of us know, it’s not easy for people to be ‘open’ and it’s not easy to be introspective… it takes introspection to know when we’ve been hypocritical and then to change that trait in the future.
So good beans Danny Brown. In the year 2010 maybe many of us will add “Don’t be a hypocrite” to our resolutions list. I just wrote it down and posted it to my wall
CHEERS!!!!
.-= Ct Kingston´s most recent blog post …How To Comment Blogs =-.