Time to Bring Back the "Rules of Engagement?"

by Skip Cohen

I started out today deciding I wouldn't write a Sunday Morning Reflections post, but old habits die hard, and here I am. Part of the reason was simply being fed up with the trolls and morons on social media. It's tough for this not to sound like a rant, but here's what got me here...

I'm a member of a local hometown website and have posted many throwbacks of friends in the community over the last few years. One of those photographs was of my wife's great-grandmother, who was Cherokee. I shared it at least four years ago, but somebody brought it back. Then, one of the members in this group came after me, claiming I was "shilling to get people to another Facebook page," followed by claiming many of my photographs were stolen.

While I know trolls love to hide behind the anonymity of their computer screens, I couldn't let this one slide by. I picked up a phone and called the guy—needless to say, he never called me back. Fortunately, the group admin took the post down, recognizing it was about to get ugly.

Here's my point—like so many of you, there are days when I just want to walk away from social media. Too many people don't know how to act or "play well with others!" And if you know anything about me at all, you know I've been a supporter of photographer's rights since the 1980s. I never use an image without permission or I pay for illustrations on Adobe Stock, like the one above.

I've written a few posts suggesting my own version of the rules of engagement...but here's a simple one, thanks to my buddy Levi Sim - "Act like your grandmother is watching!" Don't start rumors --Don't talk behind people's backs--and if you want to challenge somebody's credibility, then have enough of a backbone to contact them directly.

Thanks for letting me rant a little—LOL.

Wishing everybody a great day ahead and time to appreciate the people most important in your life. Take the time for those eleven-second therapeutic hugs I always write about. And if you question something posted on the Internet, take the time to confront the author BEFORE you draw your own conclusions! Social media has changed all of our lives, but for it to always be an asset everybody has to do their part.

Happy Sunday or Monday on the other side of the world.
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