Why we no longer feature Learner.

Wednesday 7 March 2012

Learner's requests to makes changes on a post featuring their material were not altogether unreasonable and I was tempted to comply, even though I knew it was not required and would not sit well with the person who made the post, when the ugly truth smacked me:  I would change someone else's post not because I agreed it was right thing to do but because it's what Learner wanted me to do.

It's a less than lovely thing to discover about oneself, and I didn't take it lightly. I immediately stopped working and left. I walked for a bit then headed home. What we do is who we become, this is not who I want to be, and this just got stickier.

It's a slippery slope: If I bend to the requests or demands of one group, I must bend to them all.  If we do this for one post, we must do this for each post. Some things - how it's presented or worded, where each link goes to or comes from, outside approvals, or which stranger posts what videos to which sites, or do I know who they are and will I hand them over, or being told that other people's videos will be flagged for reasons other than graphic content, endangerment, privacy violations, ill-gotten gain or human rights issues - should be questioned, not merely accepted.

Control and censorship issues regarding this blog aside, they intend to flag videos that should be covered under fair use uploaded four years ago to educate others who may have never otherwise heard of them, as they were "uploaded to Google without their consent." In addition, they actually asked me if I knew who uploaded them. As if somehow I would and, if I did, I'd just hand the responsible party over, or maybe they thought it was me. Believe it or not, the woman said my reaction confused her when I told her I was not happy about this and found it to be upsetting.

Straight up, I will not walk that slippery slope, and I won't put my team through it, either.

We no longer feature Learner. Every post including their materials has been removed. You can still watch from their site but you won't see it here. Why? Because this was an unexpected ethics test and I never want to go through anything remotely like this ever again. Bottom line? This is exactly why we put a disclaimer at the top of the blog. Other companies, organizations or individuals that have any problems with content here may apply that disclaimer as well. If that does not give satisfaction, I will personally forward any issues to counsel.

While I thank the team for their input and full support, this is solely my decision and I take full responsibility for my actions: I agreed to our policies here. I agreed to the rules that govern this team. I was the Learner fan of the group. I introduced my team to their work. I suggested including their materials on this blog. I encouraged our readers to utilize Learner. I chose to promote Learner using our name and social media. I engaged them on Twitter. When asked, I gave Learner the blog links. When requested, I gave our contact information, although I felt I wasn't given much choice in the matter. When contacted, I responded. I also gave permission to another team member to assist in matters. I am the one who was approached by counsel. I chose to allow them to assist me. I chose to wipe Learner from this blog.

Do I still love Learner? Not today I don't. But not every love affair ends well and, fortunately for me, I don't expect it.

Take care of yourselves, and each other.

Gen Xavier

Special thanks to the GenX team. You are each wonderful and you did nothing wrong.
Special thanks to counsel for quick response, great advice, and the generosity not to bill me for it.