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nealconner · Jul 9, 2002, 11:50 PM

I was typing up this article from MacAddict to distribute to my Young Freethinkers Association thinking it applied much to them, and thought you all might want to read it.

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The Do's and Dont�s of Advocacy

Part of Mac advocacy is promoting your idea about which platform is best and why�that means you'll invariably get into discussions (some might call them arguments). Always remember that the goal of advocacy is to educate without alienating.

Five Solid Advocacy Tactics
1. Be Polite
Please, thank you, you�re welcome�simple bits of polite discourse go a long way when you debate others about your platform of choice.
2. Be Generous
Don't jump on bad happenings in the Wintel world. A perfect example is the I Love You virus that slammed Wintel users, leaving smoking hard drives in its wake. Copping a snotty attitude about how the worm didn�t hurt Mac Users isn't going to help make your case. Instead, offering sympathy (whether genuine or well acted) dispels defensiveness. Besides, we all know the real truth.
3. Pick Your Fights Carefully
If you take on every fight as if it were a hill to die on, you�ll find that hill sooner than you think, leaving you exhausted when the truly important fights come along. Exercise good judgement before picking up the gauntlet.
4. Check Your Fact
Before you state facts (such as 'The Mac is better because it dispenses soft-serve ice cream'), make sure they�re true. Nothing damages your credibility like an outrageous or inflammatory claim. If you do make a mistake, correct it honestly and openly.
5. Give Ground to Get Ground
Conceding some ground is a great way to build good will. In return, you may find that others will come around and embrace certain portions of your point of view. Remember: Unconditional surrender worked only in World War II.

Five Advocacy Tactics to Avoid
1. Don�t Troll for Flames
Don�t troll Usenet groups, mailing lists, bulletin boards, or chat areas for defensive people with whom you can pick a platform fight. While it may be fun to whip someone into a slavering fury, it�s not constructive.
2. Don�t Attack Indiscriminately
If you must go on the offensive, keep your attack focused. Flailing at anything that moves (figuratively speaking) is just sad, especially when it comes to arguing platform niceties and processor speeds.
3. Don�t Go Beyond the Subject at Hand
Don�t move the discussion from Pentium III versus G4 to who fat someone�s mother is. While it may be funny (or true), it also is not constructive.
4. Don�t Turn Pit Bull
Know when to give up an argument. Pit bulls have locking jaws for a reason�and it's certainly not to hold on to a discussion that has degenerated well beyond recognition.
5. Don�t Insist on Changing Someone�s Mind
While you want to bring people around to your point of view, you can't control whether someone actually does start to see things your way. Witness the Flat Earth Society.

-- David Reynolds (MacAddict, September 2000)
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juanvaldes · Jul 9, 2002, 11:55 PM

I remember that! Was looking for it not to long ago as well.

mchladek · Jul 10, 2002, 12:09 AM

Hehe! That's pretty good. I tried some of those 'Don't' tactics once. They definitely don't work. You end just ****ing people off. Now if I encounter a PC zealot I just let them rant about how much macs suck and how awesome Windows is.

Then I simply ask, 'Oh yeah, sounds like you have a lot of experience with the Mac platform. How long did you use one?' The response is usually: 'Oh! I've never used a mac, I hate Apple.' or 'Well, my school used to have some old Apple IIs.' or 'Long enough to know I don't like them.' which equals maybe five or ten minutes.

Case in point. A couple of days ago a friend was using Final Cut Pro under OS 9 and wanted to open Quicktime. He says something stupid like, 'Man, can't Apple even make a minimize function so I can hide all of the FCP windows. Apple sucks!' I just said, 'Well, you know all you have to do is go up to the switcher and select Hide FCP.' My friend: 'Oh.' It was classic.

So, now I just let them ramble on so they look like complete arses and I just sit back nice and calm saying, 'I simply like Apple because of their bundled apps and easy to use filing system. You don't get .dll and temp folders thrown around all over the HD. Apps have their folder and stay to that folder. But, to each his own.' It gets the PC zealots all the time.