Adam pointed me to LaShawn Barber’s continuing piece on avoiding Internet/blogging scandal (aka, “Blog Ethics 101″) with the comment that it contains good advice – but advice he wishes people didn’t need.
Which started me thinking.
LaShawn is performing an important and valuable public service, helping people understand things which should be instinctive – but now that common sense “isn’t” andbarkingmad is the new “moderate” she might just be on to a new niche market: advicewe shouldn’t need, but somepeople actually do.
Which also started me thinking.
LaShawn ranks among the first-string bloggers because she’s consistently trying to help people in a variety of ways, from spreading important information to offering helpful advice to those who should don’t know better. In short, engaging in precisely the kind of behavior we yaks seek to emulate. And with that in mind, I’ve decided to be helpful too. Here’s my first installment of “More Advice You Shouldn’t Need (But Some of you Doubtless Do)”
1. On Blogging:If you’re going to use sock puppets, please wash the socks first. (Unless, of course, you’re goingplanning a different kind of self defense.)
2.On Electronics: The video game console really does work better when you plug itin. (Trust me.)
3. On Lost Objects:Someone once told me she”always” seems to find things the last placeshe looks for them. Newsflash: There’s a reason for that.
4. On Coffee: May Should be hot. (And if you didn’t order it iced, you wanted it that way, soit reallyshouldn’t come as a big surprise.)
5.On the Care and Feeding of Sock Puppets: If you’re going to go against conventional wisdom and use sock puppet identities, keep them secret and name them carefully. (Pick something really clever like “NotTheYak” so nobody will ever, ever recognize you.)
6. On Gaming: When thehealer says “AFK/OOM,” stop pulling. (Or prepare to ask for a rez.)
