Today I was reading this article on DIGG calling rapper "Bow Wow" names for not attending a venue. Because of him cancelling it, the owner was forced to sell her business which was doing community service by keeping kids off the streets and out of gangs. Reading the comments on the social news site, people at first seemed to be in accordance with one another in saying that the artist was at fault. Then, some people realized that some of the facts didn't make sense. I won't go over the whole thing, but it simply painted whatever the owner was doing in a bad light.
My point is that spinning a story about a good cause to further it can backfire. In this case, the attention was taken away from Bow Wow's action to the owner's management of the venue. In other cases, people might look at exaggerated details, as was the case with several global warming arguments, and use it to show that the whole idea is exaggerated.
Usually, where you are doing a good thing, charity work, environmental and the like, you really do not need to add to the argument that "It really does more good than bad". You do not need to exaggerate or falsify information. Doing so will tremendously weaken your case once the truth is told. Yea, there is a chance that this won't happen, but when you are trying to better other people's lives, can you really afford to take that chance?
2 comments:
Very true. When you're doing something good like that, you must maintain transparency and ensure that ppl know exactly what it is you're doing, where and how, at least in a passive way. People love to twist facts and the worst effect of that is the damage it does to your cause.
Ya, lying is one thing, but the appearance of a lie could kill your ideas. Being transparent also gives off the message that you, and your cause, are accountable. It makes the whole thing more trustworthy.
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