A wiggly line.
Some readers of this blog who closely follow it will notice that I took down a post I put up this weekend about a tweeter and blogger named coopmike48 and an aggregated blog called The Mike and Fred Show and Tell Daily.
Coopmike48 is a terrific source of news and information about education. He re-tweets and runs several blogs that touch on a range of education issues. He’s progressive, opposed to much of what passes for education reforms today and is prolific. Prolific enough that I thought much of the postings and re-tweets were done by a bot, software that automatically searches and reposts items on the internet.
By the way, coopmike48 says no. He selects all the stuff himself. Amazing.
A few weeks ago I saw a Twitter post from Mike and Fred’s Show and Tell Daily. I was scrolling down Twitter and didn’t even pay it any mind. It never occurred to me that the “Fred” was me!
I later discovered that coopmike48 had compiled tweets and blog posts into a format that looked like a blog and was entirely devoted to tweets and posts from my brother and me.
I found it odd since I was never contacted. I know that there is a wiggly line when it comes to internet free use, but this seemed to cross it. I felt that if you were going to put my name at the top of a blog, I should at least be asked. I still feel that way.
I’m not in this for the money. There isn’t any. My readership isn’t in the millions. More like about 10,000 a month. I do it because it’s interesting, because it puts me in touch with other progressive education activists and my blog has proven to be a good organizing tool for work in the teachers union of which I am a member.
In other words, I’m not just interested in being read (although I like it when my numbers spike), I’m more interested in people coming to my blog and then doing something.
I couldn’t find coopmike48′s email, so I posted my concerns about his using my name without contacting me.
Coopmike48 emailed me back and expressed his apologies. It turns out we agree about a lot and have a common history. He appreciated the issues I raised and I expressed my appreciation for the work he does spreading the word.
I’m hoping Mike and Fred’s Show and Tell Daily continues and might even drive some readers to my blog.
Negotiating the wiggly line isn’t easy, but people of good will manage to find a way.
