[Lnc-business] handling scandals and outrage

[Elizabeth Van Horn]

Hello Wes,

That's a good idea.

Yesterday, I saw something being shared by an LP member that was very 
inappropriate, and could be directly damaging to multiple people in the 
LP and beyond.

I think the Social Media Process Review Committee could certainly take 
it under recommendation to look at best practices for damage prevention 
and reach on social media.

Also, I like the idea of a cultural change.

---
Elizabeth Van Horn
LNC Region 3 (IN, MI, OH, KY)
Secretary Libertarian Party of Madison Co, Indiana
Chair-LP Social Media Process Review Committee
Vice-Chair Libertarian Pragmatist Caucus
http://www.lpcaucus.org/

On 2018-01-19 13:56, Wes Benedict wrote:
> Dear LNC:
> 
> While many statistics for the LP are better than comparable years of
> recent times, it seems we keep having a series of public relations
> scandals accompanied with lots of outrage.
> 
> The convention stripper, the mysterious death in the hotel, Aleppo,
> Hillary, the No More Pauls meme, the 2017 Satanic Panic, the
> Alt-Right, the fascists, are soldiers murderers, are public school
> teachers and students welfare queens, and of course the current topic,
> age of consent, come to mind.
> 
> I don't like the scandals and wish they'd stop happening.
> 
> Something tells me my wish may not come true when I look at all the
> sources for scandals.
> 
> There's the concept of "reach" on social media. Some things reach a
> large audience, and some things don't reach many people.
> 
> Unfortunately, it seems Libertarians who don't like some of the
> scandals above are also the individuals who increase the reach of the
> scandals by sharing them, re-posting them, and commenting about them
> on social media.
> 
> While some of the scandals are inadvertent, the possibility of
> reaching a large audience might also inadvertently be inciting
> scandals by opportunists.
> 
> I was wondering if perhaps the Social Media Process Review Committee
> or some other committee could take on the task of doing some research
> on best practices related to damage prevention and reach on social
> media. Perhaps they'd find some information that would be helpful.
> Cultural changes are very difficult, but perhaps they could find some
> information that might help encourage a more positive culture among
> Libertarians on facebook, and sharing of the good stuff while shunning
> the bad stuff. I'm not asking for top-down directives, just some
> practices, that when shared, might get buy in from the Libertarian
> grassroots.
> 
> I've swept several scandals under the rug over the years. You can't
> list those--for an obvious reason.
> 
> I do think it's a long shot to think we can change the culture.
> Scandals in Libertarian circles have been erupting since I joined the
> party 20 years ago, and they happen in the other parties, too.
> 
> But, I think it's possible things could be improved a bit.
> 
> Regardless, I plan to keep plugging along.
> 
> Take care,