Ambassadors?
I had an unpleasant experience dealing with an ambassador here and it made me think about what is a true ambassador and what role is that designation.
An Ambassador is an official envoy.
A person who has taken the responsibility to serve.
The incident that led to my decision to post this was a mistake I made by posting in haste without foresight on my part to prudently edit and proofread. I had included in the post a link to my personal email. My Bad.
I received what I considered to be a rather rude public comment to remove the post immediately which took me by surprise and I of course complied and deleted the post. Then my writing privilege was revoked. What?... Really? I had been censored for my mistake and I had to discover that I needed to contact Kyle or Carson to let me back in school.
My immediate feeling was embarrassment and ridicule by my peers. Quite frankly I was angry.
I chose to see this as a learning experience and that everyone here is a teacher and a student.
We all need to remember that we are here to learn and sometimes teach.
My experience could have been handled a lot differently with a simple PM telling me I goofed. and broke a big rule about spam. Then offering help in making the post comply with rules. It would have been a more meaningful and considerate form of assistance.
Something I would expect from an Ambassador.
This is a haven from spam and I am grateful that this platform secures that.
I would love to see pay it forward attitude maintain prevalence here. I have had lots of unsolicited help about how to write an article from WA members and I am eternally grateful.
This experience has benefitted me in a renewed interest in writing and working on my projects so it served a greater purpose as well. It broke me out of my sorry ass self-indulgence
Let us all remember that we are a family and in a safe place and our job is to help each other without personal gain.
I also realized that I don't really give a damn if anyone reads what I write. I choose not to let it be personal. So I think it is time to write some stories.
As the late great Will Rogers said:
"It's great to be great, but it's greater to be human."
Thanks and I hope this finds y"all well.
Steve
P S The aircraft pictured is the North American P51 that helped win WW2
Recent Comments
48
Hi Steven,
I am sorry that you feel this way, but at least you are able to move forward from this situation and experience.
I have been an Ambassador myself, but for this post to target only the Ambassadors is wrong, as there are a number of non-Ambassadors here who act like WA Police, and they are not polite about it when they do.
At least this "Ambassador" had the courtesy of leaving a message advising you of what was wrong, however, there must have been at least 9 other members who hit the Report SPAM button. But I don't see any reference to these members, who left no courtesy message.
It will always appear that Ambassadors are at fault, as they are the most active on the platform. But there are actually over 2 million members who can report spam.
Like Diane mentioned, if I do notice anything that goes against the rules set out by Kyle, then I will leave a comment on the thread itself, rather than a PM. I only hit the SPAM button if it is true SPAM.
Am I WA Police, no, but Kyle and Carson are not around 24/7/365, and we do not have any Moderators, so if we want to keep this platform clean and SPAM free, then it falls to all the members here to protect it.
At the end of the day, I feel like this is home, and as homeowners, we all have a right to protect it. If someone knocks on the door trying to sell me something, I ask them to politely leave. If they do not leave, then I will take action.
I do not mean to come across as harsh or uncaring, I'm just letting you know my thoughts, and how I deal with things. I'd like to think that I am friendly, caring, and diplomatic, but if other members feel that leaving a public comment, or even hitting the SPAM button is wrong, then that's their issue and not mine.
Regards,
Chrystopher
P.s. here are the rules for any members who are not aware. Spam is a NO NO!
Hi - I would have responded to this post earlier, but I was waiting for your reply to my PM, which I have not yet received.
I must assume that I am the guilty party, as Steven sent me a PM last night directing me to read this post. I have to say I don't remember this incident.
I would like to think that I am polite in all my dealings with other members. If I spot that someone has inadvertently broken one of WA's rules, then I typically start my comment with "Hi - do be aware that..." and then go on to explain the problem. If necessary, I advise them to remove the post, followed by "thank you". I don't think this is rude.
In this particular case, if the only thing wrong with the post was the addition of an email address, I would have advised to simply remove that, not the entire post.
But yes, I do leave the comment on the post, rather than contact by PM. More than anything this is to remind other members of the rules too. I often see posts where a member has broken a rule, yet has received lots of comments without anybody mentioning it. If I were to only advise by PM, then the others might not be aware that there is a problem.
I am surprised you received a write ban for this. Ambassadors don't have the power to ban members. It actually takes 10 different people to report a post as spam before an automatic ban is applied.
We don't enforce rules, Ambassadors gain their title by helping others, but we have no clearly defined responsibilities and no power. We can only advise if we see something inappropriate. I will continue to offer my help to those who need it and advise those who may inadvertently break the rules.
Thank you for reading.
Is there somewhere on this platform a Blog policy that we can read and follow-up upon, Like FB-ad policy. So we can know upfront what is crossing borders and what is safe. I presume all this platform blogging is to train us in doing. The attitude should be supportive and respectful. All platform members are hard-working human beings that want to follow the community policies and regulations. Let them be clear though. Thanks, Steve for sharing.
Hi Steve, I read your post with interest; in writing, you have leveled a complaint against all the ambassadors here in WA, you have taken umbrage about an ambassador reminding you about a possible rule inclusion.
Many members here remind other members of rule incursions in a very professional and courteous fashion from observation.
Certainly, some folks are going through that zealot phase of their journey and may lack diplomacy when it comes to expressing themselves.
As you say, we are all here to learn, and believe me; there is no rule or guidebook for being an ambassador, just as there are no guides for being a WA member.
The thing that gets me is that you didn't write your post saying member X did this to me; you expressed it as an ambassador did this to me; the aspersion net is cast wide, which one or two of 25?
You removed the post in question, so there is no way to determine what transpired. You included an email address in your post; I could see some members taking umbrage at that.
As members, no matter what rank, we have no direct determination over the removal of writing privileges. I understand that if they are not directly put in place by Kyle and Carson, it is because of an automated system response to the "report spam button" being clicked numerous times; it used to be 10. However, there is some conjecture with regards to this number at this current time.
From observation, if another member pulls us up, they are actually doing us a big favor. ( personal opinion, on many different levels.) Over the years, I have had a number of serves; it can take you back at the time, especially when you are young in your journey or feel that you have done nothing wrong; it can be a show-stopper; the key is not to take things personally. Events like this can help create that perspective of treating others how we expect to be treated, in terms of online marketing, that can be massive.
From reading your post and the ensuing comments, there appear to be some very diverse thoughts around this subject. I am surprised.
Best wishes as you continue to explore the WA opportunity. I look forward to reading more of your thoughts and insights.
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There's always that one person.... So now ya know that whatever you did was apparently not ok. Some folks need to feel superior. Some need to be recognized. Some just need to feel like they know everything and make sure that you know that they know more than you do. How they handled your unintended error tells you far more about them. Take both lessons and go be you. Take care!!! Christine