ASK Ourselves, ASK Everyone
April 16, 2013
A profound realization in both my personal and professional life is that the simple act of asking can prevent small problems from becoming big problems.
We need to ASK ourselves. We need to ASK everyone. Open the conversation.
In my lecture The GOOD, The BAD, and The UGLY in the AGE of the Internet, I raised several issues regarding sharing tutorials, instructions and information.
The important issue is that
EVERYONE needs to "ASK."
This is an issue about respect, not enforcement.
Ask the author, workshop, teachers, blog writer before sharing information from their blog, web site, tutorial, magazine or workshop.… ASK, start a conversation, find your answers.
Sometimes WE need to ASK Ourselves:
Am I going to turn a blind eye to inappropriate sharing of a tutorial by someone who is not the author? Or am I going to ASK that person, "Has the author given permission to distribute this information?"
When our Facebook friend shares a handout from a workshop, can we ASK, "Has the author granted permission to share this handout from the workshop?"
The value of ASK is that the answer will guide your direction.
This is about an ethical foundation within our community. It's time to examine the issues and consider the long
term consequences.
ASK to obtain permission before distributing someone
else's content.
Contact the author with a quick email, Facebook message or phone call to clarify a situation or even open new opportunities for you and the
community.
If we ASK each other about a question,
problem, or ethical issue, huge misunderstandings and mistakes can be
avoided.
If you are afraid to ASK the author, or teacher then ASK yourself, "Why?"
The answers may be even more profound.
ASK Yourself: What is my motivation for sharing information? If you attended a terrific workshop, or discovered a very informative tutorial, that is great to hear, but it doesn't give us permission to copy the content and distribute material that we do not own or create ourselves. Instead, it could be an opportunity to follow up with the author. ASK before sharing their information with a broader community.
P.S. You may link to ASK Harriete or a specific post anytime. A recommendation for better SEO is to provide your own commentary, or opinion as original content.
Your comments are welcome, whether you agree or disagree. Each of us can be an advocate for our community by posting a link to the lecture, sharing this post and discussing the issues.