Welcome to 2023! Will it be a great year? Well, we can only hope that it will be better than the past 3 years, but only time will tell.
Designers Circle is 16 years old and still fun for me to publish. For those who aren’t that familiar with this publication, it all started in 2008 when I thought it would be a great idea to share all the design networking events going on in the Phoenix-Metro area. The Designer Circle monthly happy hours were very successful until the pandemic forced everyone to be quarantined, or at best, not socialize. I could do a Musk-like survey: Should the Happy Hours start up again?
I seem to always change the format at the beginning of the new year, so true to form, there will be changes in the coming weeks. I eliminated my popular soap box rants with “In My Opinion,” an uncensored column which came from my experience with Facebook in the last quarter of 2021. When I posted a picture of a policeman with the question – “Do you support the Police,” the post was removed by Facebook and substituted with “This content isn’t available right now. When this happens, it’s usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people, changed who can see it or it’s been deleted.“ This is a total lie and is still being used on many sites where Facebook doesn’t want people to know what is going on in the government- federal and state. Their goal is to control what people know, and, unfortunately, there are some who only read Facebook for the news.
This was the reason for discontinuing to post on Facebook and write an uncensured column, a place where I truly have freedom of speech.
I have since posted only 2 items on this social media platform – one of a dog and one of a kiddo. Posts that Facebook don’t agree with are still being removed as of the end of 2022.
I have gotten only 4 negative responses from readers who don’t think “In My Opinion” is appropriate. The latest response was from a person who will remain anonymous, said that “everyone is entitled to express their own opinion, I don’t feel this site is the appropriate venue to do so.” He goes on to say that there are ample sites available for these types of dialogs; opinions do not have to invade the professional business associations. (to the commenter: Designers Circle is not a professional business association.)
In reference to the comment: “there are ample sites available for these types of dialogs,” I wondered what ample sites he was referring to. Was it Twitter and Facebook, the platforms that have been totally censored by the owners of these sites? Before the Musk takeover, both these sites controlled the posts slanting information in a certain direction, the exact reason why I don’t post on Facebook.
We still have the freedom of choice to read what we want and comment. With six sections on Designers Circle, I encourage you to chose what to read, or listen to in the Podcast section, and comment, if you wish.
The varied subjects I write about “In My Opinion” range from politics to the royals to what’s going on in our city. If you chose not to read this column, but to read the other information, that is your choice. If for any reason you are offended by Designers Circle, you can unsubscribe.
In this New Year I wish only the best for all of us.
I can attest to the constricted ‘freedom-of-speech’ MANY social platforms practice to fit their views and/or their target audience’s desire to only read/hear what they believe.
I appreciate THIS venue in allowing, truly, a corridor for responsible, written expression!
Thank you!!
I think we are hopefully all adults and can agree to disagree and have a healthy conversation without it getting mean and dirty,
Eveyone has their own opinion and it is nice to hear what others think and why even though it might not be your opinion, I appreciate the site and all you do!
Happy New Year, Nancy!
Christine
This reply was sent by Paul Fuller. It probably would have never been read since he wrote it in December in reply to my March 20th post:
“I have been reading the In My Opinion posts since its introduction to the newsletter. Though I totally agree that everyone is entitled to express their own opinion, I don’t feel that this site is the appropriate venue to do so. There are ample sites available for these types of dialogs. As a long-term professional in the industry, I strive to separate my personal opinions from my professional career. There is enough discourse in the world today. Can we not have it invade our professional business associations, please? Just my opinion.”
Note: If you want to comment on an older post, use the most current post in the column and refer your comments to that post.