Let's pretend you've paid good money to see a major new theatrical production in your city. It's not going well, and after a while, you get bored and antsy. What is your first reaction?


A. Heckle, "Get real actors!" or "I could do that myself!"
B. Get up and politely walk out
C. Endure and then talk about it afterward
If you're like most people, you probably would have chosen B and/or C. If you attended the Mark Zuckerberg keynote at SXSW, then A could very well have been your reaction.
Here's my take: what happened at SXSW was despicable, and downright rude. Enough is enough.
Let's get the disclaimer out of the way. I wasn't at the keynote. I wasn't even at SXSW. My info comes second-hand from talking with colleagues who were there, reading all the tweets and blog posts that followed, and watching all the video clips that are now starting to trickle out. Go ahead and move on if you feel that disqualifies me from being able to comment.
Here's my take: what happened at SXSW was despicable, and downright rude. Many in the crowd didn't get the kind of conversation or answers they wanted, so instead of doing the normal thing -- walking out or talking about it afterward -- they decided to treat the venue like it was their living room and heckle. Instead of calling out this behavior as rude, many well-respected A-list bloggers are praising it and identifying it as a new kind of model for moderated panel discussions.
What makes it worse is that this was not the only "revolt" of its kind to take place at SXSW. A panel on measurement also got the same "inmates taking over the asylum" treatment. You can read about it here.
Just to be clear, I'm not painting the brush wide enough to include *everyone* who attended with this behavior. It's evident that these were isolated incidents. I'm also not rushing to defend Sarah Lacy's poor interview. I don't even like Sarah Lacy (for private personal reasons that stem from my time while working for a different employer). I also happen to think that side-conversations and Twitter back-chat is fun and adds a refreshing side-angle to public events. But this wasn't about fun or interesting side-conversation. It crossed the line into boorishness and unacceptable public behavior.
Here's my question: when did this kind of idiocy become acceptable public behavior? It's not cute, it's not cool, and it's not fun. If you don't like the content of a panel or keynote, here are your options:
*
Walk up and leave
*
Blog about it
*
Tweet about it
Notice the option that is missing? This isn't your living room and it's not MST3K. Don't sit there and yell at the stage!
I make my living in part by putting on these kind of events, and as a moderator, I know that you ought to be able to carry on a public event like this without fearing it's going to be overrun by a horde. Not because I'm some anti-free speech Herbert looking for sanitized discussion, but because boorish heckling doesn't contribute to what everyone is (theoretically) there for in the first place: having a good, interesting conversation.
Enough is enough. It's time that we as a community -- especially the A-listers who get quoted everywhere as so-called "experts" -- stand up and call it like it actually was: rude and unacceptable.

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SXSW: Rude is Rude, Enough is Enough

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

With his mantra “it’s about the people, not the technology,” Michael E. Rubin serves as the Social Media Strategist for Fifth Third Bank. As one of the first employees of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) and the Social Media Business Council, Michael has made his career helping Fortune 500 brands put Social Media to work.

With more than ten years experience in marketing and PR, Michael has partnered with the world’s leading marketers and industry experts to develop Social Media and Word-Of-Mouth into a mainstream marketing disciplines.

Michael serves on the Advisory Committee of the Institute for Social Media at Cincinnati State University, and has lectured on social media at both the University of Cincinnati College of Business and Leadership Northern Kentucky. He resides in Cincinnati with his wife Pam, dog Ruby, and cat Chainsaw (long story). Last but not least, Michael remains a die-hard Chicago Cubs fan and proudly eat hot dogs with ketchup.

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Michael E. Rubin
Call me: 847-370-3421
Email me: merubin@gmail.com
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The views expressed in this post are my own and not those of Fifth Third Bank or any of its affiliates or subsidiaries or of any person or organization affiliated with or doing business with Fifth Third Bank.