People are riled up at flickr. It seems that when flickr rolled out its newest upgrade (giving many users the ability to view their pages in seven new languages), it also disallowed German, Korean, and Singaporean users to view anything beyond the “safe” classification. (You can read more about the entire topic at Wired, CNet, and the flickr forums.)

Some users got angry (there is an entire group dedicated to creating interesting protest images like the one to the right by sil vietty non ridere troppo) — and rightly so. They are adults who wish to use the site as adults and not be treated as children. In addition, no one alerted the users that these changes were going into effect. They simply happened.

What bothers me, though, is the mob mentality. People jumped on the bandwagon before knowing what was occurring. Some people jumped in to use this as another vehicle for their ongoing grievances with flickr (and, subsequently, Yahoo!).

I hate the mob mentality. It’s almost as bad as the alleged censorship (and I won’t mince words about what constitutes censorship and what doesn’t – we all define it differently for ourselves). I’ve been watching this happen again and again in online communities for the past 20 years. Some johnny-come-latelies even push the issues further and further, carrying the arguments on after they need to be let go so that some good can come from the entire topic (and I’m not just speaking about the flickr issue here — it happens in many, many different “injustice explosions” on the Internets). People get so emotionally involved that they forget to think and rush headlong into things.

Sure, some will write passionate, intelligent treatises on the injustices. But many others simply jump on the bandwagon because everyone else is and it seems like the right thing to do. I’ve watched too many times, though, when a few days, weeks, or months later, those same people are speaking up against another injustice that is the exact opposite of the one they previously opposed.

I advocate for thinking. And listening. And being patient. I also advocate for speaking up when you think that you should. But I think that so many do not think about speaking and just spout off what comes to their mind first…and that’s usually in anger.

As I’m often told in the workplace, choose your battles. You can’t fight them all and you shouldn’t try. When you do, you begin to look like someone with a grudge and not someone who is justified in your outrage.