CONTEXT--It would be such a good thing if everyone read the ActiveRain Guidelines and embraced them. I do not often see people that misuse all the potential here in the RAIN but there are occasions.

Here is a link to the ActiveRain Guidelines.

I am trying to complete the 2012 BIG Jumpstart Back to Basics Contest that Lynn B. Friedman has going. I have to say that it is a Challenge. If I could wish for something that would benefit people in the best way possible it would be to complete this contest. When you have to write about many aspects of what makes ActiveRain an awesome platform for developing business, you have to research and investigate on a deeper level. The first thing is to READ the ActiveRain Guidelines. If you never have, please do. You will be glad that you did. The second thing would be to teach them.

THOSE THAT CAME BEFORE--There have been a long list of people here in the RAIN that have forever upheld these Guidelines and carried the torch for the highest level of performance that they engender. You will find these people to be among the number that fostered and grew the AR Forum from the early days. I will forever be grateful for the work they have done and have championed for it gives us the sound foundation for how we work and behave here within AR. This of course includes the staff at AR who are the most holy champions of it all.

I wanted to point out what for me is that critical element of the AR Guidelines that we can begin with and hold high in all other aspects of those Guidelines. If we will embrace the respect of our members here and the staff that support us all then we will maintain the highest level of performance improvement in our Industry.

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Respect the ActiveRain Community

Being a part of any community requires a certain level of trust. Don't abuse the site or your fellow members. By joining the ActiveRain community you are given a platform to present your ideas and opinions to a large number of people. We trust you to be responsible with that platform; thousands of other ActiveRain members are also counting on your trustworthiness.

• The ActiveRain community and real estate industry as a whole will only be respected to the degree of character represented by the actions of its professionals. Do not conduct yourself in a way that disgraces your fellow members on this network.

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LIVING WITH THE ACTIVERAIN GUIDELINES--There are many ActiveRain activities that we do each and everyday and in those activities we see actions by other members that baffle and leave us wondering what might be going on there. I think that we always can assume that "great learning" is occurring and reach out to help or support. If the behavior and/or infraction continues then we hope that some correction will occur. This is where it gets difficult.

As the members of the forum, it is up to each and everyone of us to change and grow. It is NOT up to us to take responsibility to change others. That would be their responsibility. The behavior of some will go on and most likely you will just choose to not subscribe or to not read that members posts. If the ActiveRain Guidelines are continually abused, ActiveRain staff will take care of it. Providing them with feedback is beneficial.

EXAMPLE TO LIVE BY--I had a recent surprising thing happen to me and I will share it with you. I hope I dealt with it appropriately. Please feel free to provide me feedback on how I handled it or what I could have done better.

New Post--I spend quite a bit of time on Sunday putting together a post on how photography and creating a Localism inventory of photographs can be effective marketing in promoting your area. Your informational and beautifully presented posts provide prospective clients looking to relocate to your area and help them dial in on what they are interested in based on your work. The connection most times are made by the people who like or enjoy the things you have written good content on and shared with your own lifestyle preferences.

Sharing My Passions--I worked hard on the post and felt good when I had finished the project. I have fallen in love with photography and while I have a huge inventory of Localism photos for all of Shasta County and the North State, I've been looking forward to traveling and creating new and exciting events and places to visit posts. We will now be incorporating video and learning how to construct good video.

The Surprise--I had other work to do and so after I checked back in on AR, I saw that the post had been reblogged. I clicked to see who had reblogged the post. The member had used my beautiful post to make a negative remark about Photoshopped photos on "fixer" listings and that you should not enhance such Photos (something like that...not interested in calling the member out...so keeping it vague). My reaction was WHAT.....and WHAT!

How I responded--I looked at their blog and all he does is reblog and make negative or sometimes a reasonable intro. He does not post content at all. I so resented this misuse of my hard work. I left a comment that while I do list REO properties for HUD, I always show the "good, bad and the ugly" and that I resented him using my post to make his point on misrepresenting listing photos. Would he please remove the reblog or change the intro. I emailed him same request. No response and he has not changed it.

Reblogs are a Positive Action--Here is a perfect example of someone simply not understanding how this forum operates on a higher level than this behavior. He does not know that a reblog is worthy content that you want to share in your local market. It is used in a positive light and is a compliment to the writer.

My Behavior--I can't change him. I could and did request reasonable action from him but basically it is his decision. You just move on and have to have a laugh at someone taking what I worked so hard on and turning it into something entirely different. I did suggest that he read the AR Guidelines. Nothing like this has ever happened to me before and I doubt it will ever happen again. Hopefully, his work will improve and he will become a valuable member and contribute on the highest level.

SUMMARY--Those beautiful ActiveRain Guidelines are so good and true. I am a believer in embracing them. If you have not READ them, please do. Share them and teach others about them. They keep us all safe and sound on the road to improving our performance on a personal level and on a business level. It's all good....the ActiveRain Guidelines...that is!