Pope Francis' Call to Become Digital Citizens

Pope Francis Call Us to 'Boldly Become Citizens of the Digital World' 

by Wendy Murray

(Quotes from the Memorial of Saint Francis de Sales the Vatican, 24 January 2014;
 News.va )

Pope Francis Say the Internet Is a Gift from God

"The internet, in particular, offers immense possibilities for encounter and solidarity.  This is something truly good, a gift from God." 

Pope Francis Says the Internet Can Offer a Community Rich in Humanity

"The digital world can be an environment rich in humanity; a network not of wires but of people.  The impartiality of media is merely an appearance; only those who go out of themselves in their communication can become a true point of reference for others."

Pope Francis Says the Internet Can Be Used as a Violent Form of Aggression

 "Whenever communication is primarily aimed at promoting consumption or manipulating others, we are dealing with a form of violent aggression." 

Pope Francis' Prayer for Using the Internet

"May the light we bring to others not be the result of cosmetics or special effects, but rather of our being loving and merciful 'neighbors' to those wounded and left on the side of the road.  Let us boldly become citizens of the digital world."

(See Plogger's recent post on advice for spiritual writing by Frances de Sales)

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(Visit Italy with Ecco Qua Press: Bell`Umbria Writer's Workshop)

Two Dangerous Temptations on Social Media: Resist!

Avoid and Resist!

1. Misspelled tweets or other quick postings: You're thinking -- whoopee--everyone misspells on Twitter. To some extent this is true -- it is the nature of the beast. Tweeters must economize and thus create new constructions to reduce character count. This has worked well. (For example: POTUS = President of the United States; ICYMI = In Case You Missed It.)

That is not the same as misspelling words that are important enough to include in a tweet. I wrote a tweet the other day in which I mistakenly used "on" when I meant to use "one." I also used the noun "die" (as in "the die is cast') but mistakenly pluralized it so that my tweet read "the dies is cast." I worry less about the possibility that bad spelling may make me look inept (many of the best writers are bad spellers) than I do about the possibility that it makes me look lazy. Anyone who uses social media as a public platform needs to take the time to proofread and correct these kinds of errors. If you're not sure how a word is spelled, take the time to look it up. Good spellers reading your published material immediately identify a misspelling and this tarnishes credibility in their eyes. If you hurriedly publish something and later find the spelling gaff, it is never too late to fix it. Social media is forgiving about this kind of thing.

Remember, being diligent and having high standards set you apart. 

2. Un-cited copying. Even if you are using a short portion from Wikipedia -- which careful researchers are in greater measure rallying around -- note your extraction! It is okay to use others' research -- who has time to research every topic under the sun? But when your information is not your own or is co-opted, to neglect to cite the source is tantamount to stealing. Be a good citizen and neighbor.

Please maintain standards. Be true, be fair, tip your hat to your source. Your readers will thank you for it. 

Best of the Week, Dec 31 - Jan 5

In case you missed our postings last week, here are the highlights. Happy New Year!

8 Lessons Learned About Social Media as Your Workplace:  Keep going; slow and steady wins the race. Millions compete for internet space. Stay on point; don't freak out. Good content always prevails. . .

Tea with Frederick Buechner: He says, "It was John Updike who said God saves his deepest silence for his saints. Some people might say, 'The hell with it.' His silence throws me back upon myself and I must search my own depths. I'm still searching, aren't you?" He bobs his tea bag. "If we're not searching, we're dead" . . .

The Plaintive Faith of T.S. Eliot: 
. . . No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be;
Am an attendant lord, one that will do
To swell a progress, start a scene or two,
Advise the prince; no doubt, an easy tool,
Deferential, glad to be of use,
Politic, cautious, and meticulous;
Full of high sentence, but a bit obtuse;
At times, indeed, almost ridiculous--
Almost, at times, the Fool.

8 Lessons Learned About Social Media as Your Workplace

1. Keep going; slow and steady wins the race. Millions compete for internet space. Stay on point; don't freak out. Good content always prevails.

2. Dig deep. Do good work. Be fair. Don't steal! (More about this below, #5.)

3. Clarify your message. Define your presence. Command your space.

4. Don't obsess about followers and what-not. Write and post as if you were Oprah.

5. Be generous with others: When you read something you like, share it and give credit to the author / researcher. Guide your readers to other blogs. Keep a link list on your blog. (I'm still working on mine.)

Sad story: One of my favorite blog curators, Maria Popova of Brainpickings, whose worked I admired and emulated, stole a post from my humble blog without crediting me. It was occasioned on the birthday of a well-known poet, Rainer Maria Rilke, and we both needed fresh material for the dated occasion. I took time, dug through files, researched the web, and came up with my own offering while she promptly took it, using the same obscure quote I had spent time locating, as well as the same bookcover graphic. My post, published Dec. 4 at 12:00 noon, is here. Her post (here) was published nine hours later at 9:00pm. I discovered the redundancy because she also stole my tweet. (Alas, the downside of #hashtags.)

EQPlog Tweet at 12:30pm, Dec. 4 2013.
Original research digging up Rilke quote.

Brainpicking Tweet at 9:00pm. How unoriginal!
Help me out, Brainpicker!

Maria Popova has nearly 500,000 followers. How generous it would have been for her simply to retweet my tweet and blog post and help me out.

6. Be generous with yourself. This is your offering to the world. It has value. Don't shrink back from helping yourself by promotion. Even if it is counterintuitive, keep putting yourself out there. Your audience will find you and they will help you.

7. Take breaks to get away from the desk top. Integrate exercise or gardening or baking -- simply some other activity -- into your work day. (Yes, these sessions are also part of your workday.) It clears the head, paces you, and makes you a better worker.

8. Have fun. It is your world. Make it what you want it to be.