Monday, July 2, 2012

Pinterest: The New Diversity Battleground?

I've only recently started using Pinterest. There was so much buzz about it, and since I try to stay reasonably current I did what any smart person would do...I called Craig Fisher to learn the real story. He was gracious with his time and shared some insights that I'll be putting into practice shortly from a recruitment perspective.

So off I went to learn, experiment, and play with this new fangled tool...and a discussion of sorts started playing out on one of my Pinterest boards. Apparently the threat of treating all people with respect has spilled over onto this new social site.

People Are People, Right?
Maybe it's just me, but if the people who are so threatened by our lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender friends, coworkers and neighbors would just put that same energy into helping people verus attacking people, imagine what our world would look like?

How About You
Are you as surprised as I am that the threat of treating all people equally has now spilled over onto Pinterest? What do you do when confronted with this type of narrow-minded bigotry?

I'd love to hear from you.


No Excuses.




 photo credit

2 comments:

  1. Thank you, Jay, first of all for simply being you...and for being baffled by the hate and bigotry as one should be.

    I, too, just started playing with Pinterest and am enjoying it, but sadly, I am not surprised. Any place where people can comment or share their opinions, we're going to deal with just that sort of sad, disheartening and very narrow-minded bigotry. So many people can't see outside of their very narrow field of vision, and have no concept about how their words and actions affect other people.

    I have dealt with that sort of hate and ignorance my whole life. We are making headway towards being a country that has less of it, but the only way that I can survive and not be angry most of the time is to ensure that people who view the world in that way are not part of my life - even if it means stepping away from social interactions (both in person and online). I can't change how hateful someone is; I can choose whether I have to interact with them and how I respond to it.

    Thank you again for taking up the banners and shields and speaking up. It does my heart good.

    Richard

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  2. Wow ... Just wow at the comments on your board (which reminds me that I need to follow you there). Beyond ignorance and bigotry, I just don't understand why people think it is cool or right to be so rude online. These same people would never say to anyone's face most of the things they type. It would be nice to see people use more restraint and kindness in the engagement online. I think it is a large reason why so many people are afraid of social media and why employers are fighting so hard to control content.

    When I see this kind of behavior, I don't engage. I may leave a comment of my own but I don't let myself get dragged into the back and forth. Instead, I choose to counter negativity with positivity where I can. And if I don't have anything nice to say, I don't say anything.

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