Why you shouldn't be reading this blog

Last March I wrote a blog entry called "A few ideas about Negotiation". It wasn't too beefy, was a simple collection of things I've learned, and from the feedback, a few people even got some information from it.

As is common, it found its way onto a few Internet news and/or blog aggregator sites. On one of those sites, someone posted a comment to my article. It was:

"I haven't heard of Paul Tyma -- what's his credibility in writing this article?"

Original here.

Wow. Good damn question right there. And I'm pretty confident I have a pretty damn good answer. Which would basically be "none, nada, and zip". Who the heck am I to tell you on how to negotiate? Nobody - that's who.

Now I'll note that my article wasn't called "How you should negotiate" it was just "a few ideas about negotiation". To get technical, I suppose anyone is qualified to write such an article. Heck, my ideas could have been dead wrong, but true to my title - they were still ideas.

Regardless, there are most definitely more qualified people in the world than me in the area of negotiation. I've certainly done a bit, but guys like used car salesmen do it nearly every day. They're the ones who should be writing a negotiation blog.

What got me more about the commenter's post is that particular site was an entrepreneurial news site that commonly referenced blog articles. Many of those articles were giving advice - and just like my article, I basically had no reference as to the "qualifications" of any of the authors.

Some of the authors had started many companies and gave experiential reports. But other ones, in fact some of the popular ones, were someone who made a website over a few weekends, called it a "start-up", then wrote down a post-mortem about why their grand launch had failed. I was a bit surprised that my commenter saw fit enough to question my qualifications in writing that article. I mean, thats what the Internet is - isn't it? A collection of anyone saying anything for any reason they want.

They say that the Internet has started to make us dumb. I'm not sure I agree with that statement. What I do think is happening is that the Internet has given everyone (or anyone) a voice. And although that sounds all democratic, it might not be all its cracked up to be. What I mean is that the Internet is fantastic at disseminating information - but nothing is even partially guaranteeing that that information is correct.

Before the Internet we read things in books or magazines or newspapers. Now by no means were we sure that the authors of those works were correct or even worth listening to, but they did typically have an editor or boss or someone supporting their work. That editor's job, at some level, was tied to the writer's work being good (and if intended, accurate). In other words, it is by no means a sure thing - but there was a human on the planet with a vested interest in that writing being what it intended to be. Whether that be factual, entertaining, or blasphemous.

On a large scale, I think its safe to say that writing in that context is going to be higher quality than someplace like the Internet where any single person can write down anything they like and publish it for all to see. Then according to the snazziness of the title or the controversy of the topic, it may be read by thousands or even millions (or of course, maybe no one).

Quoting from the Internet is like quoting a 9-year old. I have nothing against 9-year olds, but in my experience their viewpoint tends to be limited and their agendas rather linear. Even if what you're quoting isn't from a 9-year old, you basically need to treat that as the lowest common denominator. If you don't have assurance of the source, then you simply can't be sure.

So, to my fair commenter who strongly questioned my qualifications on writing that article on negotiation, I'll meekly admit that I have none. On the other hand, from an opposite perspective I could claim that I have plenty - or at least as much as every other random blogger on the Internet. So either you really shouldn't be reading this blog - or - if you feel it brings you value, then logic be damned. I'm glad you're here.

The Internet itself isn't making us dumber - but it is muddying the waters between facts, lies, and misinformation. Surely at times we find written works that are great, but there's less guarantee than we ever had before that they are worth anything at all. The Internet has added a whole new dimension to the phrase "Don't believe everything you read".

And ironically, if you think my whole idea is flawed and what I've written here is total garbage - then I dare say, we are in complete agreement.