Off on a tangent....

So today I am feeling a little blue, and I felt the need to address a situation that has been occurring for a long time. As many of you know, I moderate a few shows over on Ustream. Well, there has been a group of people attempting to ruin the community over there. Are they overtly attempting to ruin it? No. But they are. The behavior of a few is making a whole lot of people very uncomfortable. Yesterday, I unfortunately had to take a stand in an effort to protect the peaceful sharing community.

I for one, hate drama. I do not say a lot publicly, and I try to be fair and give folks generally enough rope to hang themselves. But when slander on other social networking sites of individuals who are caring, is the forum that is chosen for these cyber bullies to mount a defense, well that just gives me the red ass.

I appreciate that there are people in the world, whose entire life and friendships take place on the internet. I also appreciate, that people are entitled to their opinions, and many have lives that are not happy, affected by illness, or depression, and generally poor social skills. I can choose not to be around them, or help where I can. In a community such as Ustream, these options are limited, as it is a public forum, where a mere sign up is all it takes for people to interact. Generally it is a good thing. But there are a few, trying to take the spotlight 100% of the time and using abuse of the rules of the broadcasters, as a means to their end.
It is not cool. Even if I consider all I have stated previously, you need to be respectful. You need to honor the requests of the broadcaster in their show and behave. Good fun is always welcome. A good joke makes us all laugh. But to shamelessly promote a business, not endorsed by the broadcaster, or to consistently use foul language, talk politics or political opinion, air discriminatory views, direct message others in a bullying fashion, threaten in any way, or make others feel ostracized , should not happen.

And it will not happen on my watch. If I am your moderator, I am protecting your show and your integrity. I have no tolerance for people who try and make a public showing all about them. Get your own show for that, and say whatever you want. I do not have to be there.

I am new to the Social Networking world of Twitter, and do not profess to know much about it. From what I have seen, some people use it for bad not good. To publicly deface someone, for your bad behavior, again is not cool. If you are a friend of mine, I can only take so much. I am going to stand up for my friends, when I feel it is justified.

So my friends, if you saw me involved in an exchange on Twitter, that did not sound like me, please know, I had enough. Believe me, my fuse is very long, and it had burned to it's end. I do feel badly for these individuals, and I wish them no harm. I simply want them to leave me and my friends and our community on Ustream, alone.

The ganging up, piling on, whining, crying and general sophomoric behavior will not be tolerated in my show or my friends shows. If you cannot play nice, do not come to these shows at all, because you will be banned upon arrival. I have been patient, explained until I am blue in the face, and truly very sad that it turned out this way. But you did it to yourself.

I am sure everyone knows who I am addressing, so I will not name names. I will not stoop to the public defacing level that they have. I have one thing to say, GROW UP! and PLAY NICE!.

So thanks for taking the time to read this post. I hope it answers any questions you have about recent events. Also, if see some crap about me on any of these sites, think twice before you believe it. I have a good reputation as a supporter of the art community, as do those I associate with. Don't let a few people who took it too far, change your opinion about the group. If you have concerns or questions, feel free to contact me. I welcome your comments.

Hugs,