Friday, February 19, 2010

Tell Me What You Really Think


Ah crap. No matter how often I think or say, "I should blog about this," the time and idea get away from me, and sadly, this computer sees way more work than fun. But I was invited to a beta site today that's really got me thinking, so before I lose my train of thought, I'm going to share it with you.

Have you heard of Failings? Check out this link The concept is thus: you set up your own profile (I'm errincs) and invite your friends to tell you--anonymously--what they really think of you, what you need to work on, what they dislike and why. Basically I guess they could tell you anything at all, good or bad. The idea is so post-something, I'm not sure there's a label for it. Post-polite? Post-cranky? Post-hypocritical? Post-schadenfreude?

There's an intriguing piece to the site beyond learning what your friends really think of you (and I don't mean finding out what your friends really think of you!). You can opt to publish all your friends comments so anyone who contributes to your list of failings can read all the other entries. And finally, if you so choose, you can start the litany of your failings yourself--kind of preempting the worst things you think people will write about you by getting them out there first.

I have to wonder: do I know what my friends think of me? What, if they could dictate, would they like to change about me, or have me work on? Would their suggestions make me a better friend? A better person? Or is there something completely selfish and self-serving in telling a friend about their failings? In a sick sort of way, I want to know what is in need of work, but I wonder, would I ever be able to tell a friend the same kind of thing? I'll have to wait to be invited to do so, I suppose. In the meantime, consider yourself invited to show me my failings.