Tell Me Who You Are

 

In the past year several new local newsletters have popped up. “Give us you email address and we’ll send you all the cool local info!”

But who are you? 

They don’t say. 

I am not giving my email address to anyone under those circumstances. I want to know who is behind this and what their goal is for publishing a local newsletter. Sure, I’m retired and I have too much time on my hands. I have more ability than most to do the amateur detective work involved but: I shouldn’t have to. You shouldn’t have to.

I feel the same way about people who ring one’s doorbell with the story that your roof is in dangerous condition, they are working for unnamed people in your neighborhood…etc, etc. If someone shows up and you did not call a reputable company to make an appointment with them, then they are uninvited and you are not obliged to spend one minute talking to them.

You do not even need to open your door.

In a local Facebook page that supports education a representative from a group unknown to me posts a request for volunteers for a community-wide event. It’s all very generically positive.

But who are you? They didn’t exactly say. Even when pressed they spoke in generalities.

Tell me who you are. I am not asking for intimate details that are none of my business. If you are asking people to believe what you are telling them or to get involved in your cause you need to give them enough information to make educated choices. 

Using schools as an example, some people think the way to save them is to get rid of anything that isn’t the three R’s. Others think they need more police. Some are determined to control library choices. We all know about the ones who just want to make sure they control what kind of classmates their children have. 

So if you want me to sign on to your cause you need to be transparent about who you are to the extent that it illuminates what you stand for. People who don’t do that send up red flags to me. And not everyone who does this is a bad actor. Some folks legitimately don’t “get” why it’s important. 

It really, really is.

Yesterday someone posted AI-assisted analysis about the County Executive race. Big surprise: I’d like to more about where that person is coming from to help me assess what they wrote. Why? In political races its good to know a few things:

• Does this poster actually live in the community?
• Are they actively campaigning for one of the candidates or on a candidate’s staff?
• Do they have any record of being informed/engaged on community issues?

People can do all kinds of oddball things in an attempt to influence elelections. Things are not always what they seem. It can be very hard to remember this if the person is selling you something you already want to hear. They get past your defenses. You want to give them the benefit of the doubt. I understand this.

But part of evaluating information you come across online is assessing the source. It’s not the only thing, of course. But it’s such a basic thing. If you ring my doorbell and want some of my time you need to be willing to identify yourself in some meaningful way. 

Please. Be respectful enough of people in your community to give them the opportunity to make an informed decision.

*****

Psssst! Did you read yesterday’s blog post? There’s a contest!

Village Green/Town² Comments