When Writing Helps People Understand What Words Cannot
When Conversation Failed, Writing Opened the Door Yesterday, I wrote about a friend who posted a group selfie on social media without asking whether everyone in it wanted the photograph to be shared. I was one of the people in the picture. My friend had prepared himself for the camera, but the rest of us were not ready. When I saw the photograph online, I sent him a private message and asked him to remove it. He refused. He believed it was only a photograph and did not see why it had become a serious concern. My direct explanation did not change his mind. It seemed that the more clearly I defended my position, the more firmly he defended his own. Later, I turned the experience into an article. Instead of writing an attack against him, I explored the wider lesson: when we publish a photograph containing other people, their faces are not ours to manage without consideration. After finishing the article, I sent it to him. This time, he understood. He removed the photograph willing...