Don't Start Fights, But Do Finish Them
July 24, 2008 in General Information
From time to time I am reminded of something that my father said to me when I was a young man, working on finding my place in the world:
“Don’t ever start a fight, because you always lose in the end. But if you have to fight, finish it.”
Of course, he was talking about a different kind of finish, but the principle is the same. If you get into a fight, in the long run you both always lose. Sure, you may “beat” the person that you are fighting with, but that falls into the category of winning the battles and losing the war. You can never win a fight on someone else’s blog, forum, or message board. It’s their house, their rules. Never forget, once something is on the internet, it is there forever.
Write your responses for future readers, the people that may discover your conflict via search or a viral discussion.
- Do not write for the attacker.
- Do not put them down.
- Explain your position, and why you maintain it.
- Show that you have principles and values.
You may not be able to make the critic happy, but every future reader will see that you worked toward a positive end.
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