FastWork.tv has made a lot of changes and all for the better. One of the unfortunate side effects is that Shel Israel is no longer with the show. Video can be a harsh environment.
I have huge respect for Shel as a writer. He writes great prose and that's something I appreciate as a skill. However, I know that it is a rare person who can pull off being front of camera as well as in prose and in live performances. I sure as heck am not one of those people. John Humphries, Michael Parkinson and Jeremy Paxman are the names that spring to my mind.
I have neither the talent nor desire to appear on camera unless it is something very short or a joke. But it is always good to see when it does come off. As someone once said: I've got a great face for radio. I'm glad I know my limitations.
In comments around the changes, people were, in my opinion, un-necessarily harsh with a lot of attention focused on the removal of comments from the original video page. This is something worthy of attention. Others can disagree but I have always taken the position that if anyone shows up determined to insult people then their comments are deleted. I'm fortunate that very few of those who come here behave in what I consider an unacceptable manner. Unfortunately it seems, the tech blogosphere is no better behaved than it was several years ago.
I have started just blocking people like "Anon" out of my life from Twitter and FriendFeed and have started removing comments from my own blog that aren't constructive. Jerks have no place in my life anymore and hope that more bloggers will take a strict line against people who are trying to destroy the communities we participate in. We wouldn't let these kinds of people into our homes, so it's time to say that if you want to be a jerk you should do it on your own blog and not expect anyone to read your commentary.
He is right.
So how do you assess what is acceptable and what is not? That's for each person to decide but you can see how I view it from my T's and C's page.
Am I an angel in that regard? Absolutely not. There are plenty of occasions when I've messed up. Passion is one thing, but people are human and deserve to be treated with humanity. There's enough cruelty in the world as it is. Any time I tread over the line, I always regret it later.
Related articles by Zemanta
- Am I Too Naked
- Puppets, theatre and the conflation of 'successful' with 'popular'
- A Case Study In Personal Brand Destruction
- WorkFastTV Video Show Review
Related stories
- July 16, 2008 -- Fatigue (1)
- July 6, 2008 -- Today's project is ESME (2)
- June 3, 2008 -- Twitter and the firehose are killing me (4)
- May 29, 2008 -- Off to Boston: Enterprise 2.0 gig (8)
Link to original post