Real Simple's Be Nice on the Internet Week

One of the few magazines I scan cover to cover is Real Simple.  My sister-in-law, Deb, turned me onto to it several years ago.  (She also turned me onto reality TV like Deadliest Catch and the Kardashians  LOL)  It is easy to read, mainly consisting of little blurbs and not lengthy articles, so you can get interrupted by the phone or a customer without losing your momentum.  The pictures are great, too.  I got my home network secured finally thanks to one of their how-to's.  

They are sponsoring a much needed thing this week--Be nice on the Internet Week.  If you go to their website or Facebook page you can sign up and show your support.  I honestly don't go to forums that get "flamers" any more.  You know what a flamer is, right?  Here's Wikipedia's take:   Flaming, also known as bashing, is hostile and insulting interaction between internet users. Flaming usually occurs in the social context of an internet forum ... It is frequently the result of the discussion of heated real-world issues such as  politics, religion and philosophy, or of issues that polarize subpopulations, but can also be provoked by seemingly trivial differences.

{On one of my soap groups, we did recently have a gentleman who took exception with everything in handmade soap from fragrance to specialty oils.  We listened for a couple posts, gave him a warning and then just removed him from the group when he continued to try to inflame us.} 

Anyway, Real Simple has sent a couple email reminders so far this week.  The first was to encourage you to take a breather before you hit the "send" button.  They say it will give you time to form a more thoughtful response and possibly consider the implications of what you are saying.  Great advice!  The next email was to read your message out loud.  I do this (probably not often enough) to catch typos.  But, they say it can help you imagine how your audience will hear your message.  

The local talk radio station I listen to in the car, was talking about the Tim Tebow/Denver football issue on Monday.  Tim is the one who is a devout Christian and a pretty good quarterback.  We are fans because he played for the Gators.  Anyway, they were theorizing that Tim is such a divisive character because people nowadays expect their heros to have gotten dirty.  That we like to see someone who has "fallen" work their way back up.  I am just confused.  When did it become a bad thing to be a good person with strong morals?   

So, perhaps my only suggestions is that we take this movement into our personal lives off the web too.  Especially with the primary season in full swing it is time to regain a little civility.  Can we all just be a little nicer?  A little more tolerant even??  Call me Pollyanna, but, I want my world to be peaceful and pleasant where people are more like Tim--than say, Simon Cowell.