Posted on Mar 9, 2015
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For those of us that have been a lot time on RallyPoint, we can all give examples of posts that are cluttering up the forums; heck some will probably say this post is one of them but please hear me out.
I've commented numerous times that RallyPoint is a resource to all Service Members. The objective of this site is to provide Service Members a place to go and build your professional network among other Service Members. To share ideas, thoughts and information. While we do enjoy some good and fun conversations, some of the conversations are what I would classify as "Space Takers". As a member of this site, you have the chance to be a thought leader; to share your ideas with over 250,000 other Service Members and to get feedback on those ideas. Here, a PV2 can engage with a G.O. in ways never seen before and that is awesome!
Well after taking my morning virtual stroll through the forums, I've noticed a growing trend that has raised a lot of red flags. The increase posts about Stolen Valor or what I classify has the "Where's Waldo" posts of putting up a picture of a known by uniform and telling people to pick out the errors is alarming. While I agree that sometimes we as leaders need reminders of change regulations concerning the wear and appearance of the uniform; some of these posts offer nothing but a place for people overload the servers with crazy memes. Again, if you are going to post something like this, make it a teaching tool. If you see someone's fruit salad and you don't know what a certain ribbon is or if you have a question about how you display your awards then yes go for it because that has some value but as a long time user and a member of the Admin Users group I have one favor to ask. Before you post your next picture of some guy wearing an Air Force top with Marine Corps bottoms covered in Army Patches with Navy Ribbons standing on a Coast Guard boat; ask yourself "What I am offering as a lesson with this post?"
I've commented numerous times that RallyPoint is a resource to all Service Members. The objective of this site is to provide Service Members a place to go and build your professional network among other Service Members. To share ideas, thoughts and information. While we do enjoy some good and fun conversations, some of the conversations are what I would classify as "Space Takers". As a member of this site, you have the chance to be a thought leader; to share your ideas with over 250,000 other Service Members and to get feedback on those ideas. Here, a PV2 can engage with a G.O. in ways never seen before and that is awesome!
Well after taking my morning virtual stroll through the forums, I've noticed a growing trend that has raised a lot of red flags. The increase posts about Stolen Valor or what I classify has the "Where's Waldo" posts of putting up a picture of a known by uniform and telling people to pick out the errors is alarming. While I agree that sometimes we as leaders need reminders of change regulations concerning the wear and appearance of the uniform; some of these posts offer nothing but a place for people overload the servers with crazy memes. Again, if you are going to post something like this, make it a teaching tool. If you see someone's fruit salad and you don't know what a certain ribbon is or if you have a question about how you display your awards then yes go for it because that has some value but as a long time user and a member of the Admin Users group I have one favor to ask. Before you post your next picture of some guy wearing an Air Force top with Marine Corps bottoms covered in Army Patches with Navy Ribbons standing on a Coast Guard boat; ask yourself "What I am offering as a lesson with this post?"
Leadership
Training
RallyPoint
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 2
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1SG (Join to see) did try to head these stolen valor discussions off at the pass with his attempt at an umbrella discussion thread, SGT Ben Keen. I think that's a good compromise on that particular topic -- https://www.rallypoint.com/answers/stolen-valor--5. I tend to agree with you on some of the topics being discussed. I'm not sure about limiting the discussion though. The meme topics seem a little over the top to me, but they're very popular, so I guess I'm in the minority.
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SGT Ben Keen
I'm not looking at limiting discussions, I think the impact from doing that would be worse. What I'm trying to point out is that we need to police ourselves and ensure what we are posting has some sort of general impact on the community. Granted, I would say this post has little value to the community other than seeing if there is something we can do to help prevent this from going from a professional network to a place full of memes and bad information. And no, you aren't in the minority when it comes to memes. Yes, some of them are good but too much of a good thing can be just as bad.
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