When I started UNIX.com
nearly two decades ago, online life was brutal. People formed groups in forums and email lists and relentlessly bullied new members and novices over the most petty and juvenile technical issues. It's seems better now that back then.
Lately, I've been participating in a number of different forums, and while the bullying and ad hominum attacks are much less than two decades ago, the problem based on human ego still persists.
What I have noticed is that forums that automatically grant status based on post counts
and number of likes received
and number of days on site
tend toward exclusiveness
and a small group of senior members
dominate all question and answer.
In some forums I have participated in outside of here strange things have happened. Oddly, I have been bullied via PM when I answered a question posted by our own @RavinderSingh13. I answered a question in a public forum that Ravinder had asked me privately on WhatsApp. I promised Ravinder a public post when I had time. Later I had time, and posted my code; and got a nasty message from a forum leader
explaining to me how I was interfering in his mentoring style. Truly astonishing juvenile behavior.
In that forum, small group of regulars
think they must jump in and answer every question. These seniors
indirectly discourage anyone outside of their informal group of members with forum status
to provide answers to questions. Sometimes they bully new members and after they bully them (directly or indirectly) and the reaction is negative in the forum, these status members
with standing
will go back and edit their negative, bullying comments out. This means people who read the replies do not see the same comments that triggered the tension because the harsh comments get removed by the bullying status member
who posted them. It's all so juvenile but that is life in the forumverse
, it seems.
In another tech forum I've spent time in recently, it's the same social status game.
A handful of senior members
jump in and feel the need
to reply and comment to every question, leaving very little opportunity for the new members to feel welcome to answer questions.
Also, I have noticed in the forumverse
is that there are also a small number of trigger happy people of forum status
who are quick to take the fun out of posting because they answer without understanding the question and make false technical claims without regard for the question asked. However, these trigger happy seniors
never admit their mistakes and just continue on their line of nonsense, often backed up by their club friends
only because they have been around for a long time. It's little different than street gang behavior, but is is online.
I guess this is just human nature. Ego, pride, selfishness, group think, and gang mentality.
Here, I have generally pushed back against this kind of elitism
and tried to encourage people to participate, even if they might not be the top dog
. I have made changes when I have felt the new members were being pushed down by the seniors
.
It's unfortunate that many great tech offerings are supported on forums with a core group of ego-centric know-it-alls
supported by years of like counts
and days on site count
who feel obligated to comment on every post. This kind of status power
is not inclusive.
Here, we may not have the latest tech and this forum is long past it's peak days, but we do always strive to be inclusive
, especially toward any new member who is a novice. It is the novice of today
who will become the expert of tomorrow
.
Alway Keep the Mind of the Beginner.
Peace.
"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few." - Shunryu Suzuki