Seeker

I've been reminded lately of how often words can be misused on social media and the harm that can bring. Digitalnun's post today  'Trial by Social Media'  is well worth a read on this topic.  'A Wise Word: Reflection on Proverbs 25:11' was one of my 2014 posts on the Big Bible Project website. Here's what I wrote there and it seems worth re-blogging it  here, if only to remind myself. Social Media is full of words  – funny, sad, silly, wise, cruel, kind, judgemental, helpful, beautiful, ugly. Posting on Twitter, Facebook and all the rest is so quick, it’s easy to say things we later regret. How many times have you re-tweeted a tweet that seems to be news, but without pausing to check the facts, so your tweet becomes false gossip or even slander. Or perhaps it is true but expressed in a cruel way? You know the sort of thing. Dave Roberts has a helpful Proverbs related post about our use of words in Words! Aaaarggh! Do take a look. My post today is ...

6 today! That's the age of Seeker blog. Should I celebrate? Or not? Well, to keep going for 6 years is an achievement, so I'll give myself a pat on the back.  I am pre-scheduling this post for 2 May 2015 as I expect to have other things on my mind on this day. (I may tell you about that next week.) The ability to schedule when a post is published is one of the more useful skills acquired in the blog learning process. If you have seen any of my posts published at 6.00 am there is no need to admire my early rising abilities. I probably wrote it the day before - or even a week before and scheduled it to publish automatically at my chosen time and date. I had no idea what I was doing or why I was doing it when I started this personal blog 6 years ago today. I think the main conscious motivation was wanting to learn how - I really do like learning new skills - and I enjoy writing. The unconscious motivation was (and is) far more complex - and none of your business. Yes, I am a...

It's worried me that one of the most read posts of the last year on this blog is 5 Ways to destroy someone's reputation . Have I encouraged lots of people who wanted to do just that - destroy someone else's reputation? If so, that saddens me, particularly as on-line bullying can be a life-threatening phenomenon. Encouraging verbally destructive behaviour wasn't the point of the post. The point was to say how easy it is to destroy someone's reputation unthinkingly or unintentionally through unfounded rumours or distorted facts. These words from the New Testament never cease to be relevant: "the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits. How great a forest fire is set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a fire!"  James 3: 5 - 6 I intended to follow up '5 ways to destroy someone's reputation' with a further post on 5 ways to build or enhance someone's reputation, but I never did, in spite of receiving a few help...

A post about public reputation on iBenedictine's blog yesterday got me thinking about how easily someone's good name may be destroyed by unfounded rumours or distorted facts.  Here's 5 ways to destroy someone's reputation: Believe what you're told without questioning who's saying it, why and on what evidence. Pass on what you've heard 'in confidence' to a few people. Add a few thoughts from your own ignorance, prejudices, jealousies etc. Use social media to pass on rumours or allegations: tweet, retweet, post on Facebook, blog etc. Do nothing to challenge what others are saying when you know the truth is being distorted. Easy isn't it? It's always been easy, but with today's communication systems the damage can happen quicker and affect more people. Public figures are particularly vulnerable. I am certainly not saying that people in the public eye should not be accountable for their words and actions. They s...

Diving straight in at the deep end isn't my style. I prefer to test the water temperature first, then immerse slowly. It's just as well some of us are cautious by nature or how would the human race ever survive? I'm definitely one for double-checking the identification of a mushroom that may or may not be edible before cooking a heap of them for supper. It's the same with new social media. A few years ago I cautiously signed up to Facebook, lurked there, paranoid about privacy settings, reluctant to post images and hoping my children (who are adult) didn't feel I was spying on them. I'm now a Facebook native - or at least I do until the next time Facebook changes everything. Starting a blog 3 years ago came next. I set up the blog, posted my first post and hoped no-one would read it! I hadn't got a clue what I was doing but I learnt slowly. Keeping up the blog has enriched my life. Some of you read it and I'm pleased that you do. This blog has a page...

Just when I think I'm beginning to grasp what social media is about, everything changes and moves on. It's a pity about the spelling of doughnut, but I'm grateful to Mich Sineath  for this photo explaining social media. At the moment I am not eating a doughnut and even if I was I wouldn't tell you on Twitter or 'like' doughnuts on Facebook. As for Four Square - please can someone explain to me what the point of it is? Apart from telling burglars you are not at home, or providing help for stalkers? I am now going to share some supper. I won't tell you where. It won't be doughnuts, I won't create a photo or video of it. I won't be pinning up the recipe in Pinterest. Happy weekend to all!

I'm definitely not a fan of the media magnate Rupert Murdoch , but I rather like this quote and the way that it's illustrated in this image by Lynette . Those of us old enough to be born before home PCs, mobile phones, social networking et al are not digital natives in the way our children and grandchildren are. I became a digital immigrant about 20 years ago and have been desparately trying to catch up ever since. I think I've begun to assimilate, but as soon as I think I have the culture and technology  moves on. That's life. On the other hand the problem with too much emphasis on assimilation is loss of diversity, the homogenization of culture. (Rupert Murdoch's empire telling us what to think?) One excellent example (and there are many more) of maintaining a distinct identiy in the virtual world is the blog of a Benedictine community in the UK. To find nuns, who largely inhabit a world of silent prayer, regularly blogging (and also not posting when there...

It could be some people's worst nightmare to spend 48 hours in residence with about 100 preachers. That's what my other half and I returned from in time to vote yesterday evening. It wasn't a nightmare and strangely enough only 2 sermons were preached within the 14 conference sessions. The event was the national conference of the College of Preachers and the subject was 'Breaking News'. There was an impressive line up of speakers including the Head of Newsgathering at the BBC (the day before the UK election!) All were worth listening to, but there was too much input in too short a time with not enough time to digest anything. The worship sessions were led by a group of shiny new Salvation Army captains without bugles or tambourines but with drums, guitar etc. and some visuals and well planned intercessions using prayer stations that involved all 5 senses. I liked eating the chocolate after tasting the bitter herbs best! As delegates we were mostly anglican or...

I enjoy the internet for its windows on the world, all from the privacy of my study. Now I have a dilemma. Do I want to make video calls from here or not? My husband recently installed a webcam and Skype on his computer in his study. From there I've enjoyed sharing his free video calls to family and friends. It's fun both seeing and talking with the grandchildren. I've been persuaded to think about downloading  Skype . As it's free it seemed a good idea, but video calls need a webcam which are not free. I went out and bought a webcam. I mounted it on my VDU and installed the software. I tested it by taking a photo. It works! It works too well! It shows an accurate high-resolution image of me complete with wrinkles, reading glasses, unbrushed hair wearing slobbing-around-gear and no makeup. Perhaps if I placed it further away?...On the shelf to my left? On the right?.... Meanwhile I delay signing up to Skype, whose offer of free video calls was the only reason ...

Add caption On 1 January 2010 my thoughts turn to new years and new diaries. As I use a church diary  that starts in Advent (that is before Christmas) my diary already has several weeks use, so I'm not starting a new one, only a new year and decade! My greatest excitement over a new diary was the day I began to write in a 5-year page-a-day lockable diary given to me for my 14th birthday. It was the most treasured gift of my teenage years. I wrote in it at the end of the day (usually in bed) most days of the following 5 years, recording my thoughts and feelings about what had happened and what I hoped for or dreaded. It was a record meant for my eyes alone. Did my parents or siblings ever find the key I wonder? I hope not! Several decades later I remember only a little of what I wrote - I destroyed the diary sometime during my twenties - an action I now regret. It might have made useful reading for me when my children were teenagers. Since then I have kept an occasiona...