Code, Conduct – Words to Live By
March 31, 2007 |
The biggest news of the last few days had been the upheaval caused by the deplorable comments and threats leveled at Kathy Sierra. I expect most of us have commented or at least heard about the events and our Cyndy Aleo-Carreira wrote a very nice piece on the subject the other day. Everyone is upset for the lady technical blogger, but there seems to be a great gulf of opinion as to what the blogosphere should do about this kind of conduct.
Tim O'Reilly weighed in saying that he favored some code of conduct but warned against any kind of legal/governmental control in an interview with the BBC. He went on to point out that all the messed up people on the Web are not really a statement about the Internet. He seemed adamant about not generalizing the situation as a statement of something happening to the blogosphere. But this is not just a blogosphere problem is it now?
I commented on Scobleizer ”Taking the Week Off”, where Robert has pledged to not blog for a week in protest and recognition of these most acute and upsetting events. An indication of the import and visibility of this problem are the more than 300 comments and trackbacks to Robert's post. I admire his recognition and effort to make a statement about these issues, even though I may not totally agree with stopping blogging.
We have a really big problem here on Web 2.0. It is always amazing to me, as I am sure it is for you, that it always seems to take something really terrible to galvanize people into action. Taking aside the terrible abuse Kathy and other people have had to endure, how long would it have taken us to deal with something that has plagued the Internet for years?
O'Reilly seems to segregate these conduct issues into the realm of blogging as does the BBC article. This is not a blogging issue, but a societal issue that is accelerated by the tolerant and hospitable nature of the Internet domain. Blogs are not the only venues subjected to hostile and immature behavior. The entire span of the Web and society is plagued with behavior that would never be tolerated in any reasonable societal venue anywhere.
I wrote a post in February about Web communication, which has probably received as many pings as any I have written. It was not even a really superb article, but evidently touched on the pulse of a number of people. I was really a little amazed that it got so much attention but see now why it was of interest. Nice people are bothered by this nasty aspect of the Internet culture!
Every venue of the Internet I have ever been associated with has suffered the same problem. Gaming sites, chat rooms of the 90's, forums, X Box Live, web sites, and instant messaging are full to the brim with hateful and disparaging comment and intent. It is time we brought some integrity and mature conduct to the most incredible teaching, learning and communication tool in the history of the world.
If you want definitive empirical evidence of the problem for Web 2.0 take a look at a story a friend of mine submitted to the Digg community on Tuesday. Examine the nature of the story and then look at the comments about this act of adolescent irresponsibility. The McCain MySpace site foolishness got more attention than any story a blogger wrote that day. Look at the language and the tone of these comments and think about what these individuals would say on your blog or forum.
So, what happened to Kathy Sierra, a technology blogger who is always so positive and upbeat, was really our own fault. We advocate this behavior every single day by continuing to count immature and adolescent behavior as adult behavior. Think of it this way, if two adults were talking about a business deal and a 15 year old waltzed in and blurted out “F…That”, what would the adult response be? The problem with Web is that it has been turned upside down. The order of things has been convoluted, and there is so much lack of respect. We have all contributed to this problem by refusing to deal with it, and it has become a reflection of what has happened in our society and in our homes.
I expect you have all noticed that this is not just happening on the Internet, haven't you? As people, we have lost all consideration for the civility we once had, and more importantly for the order of things. Matureity is not a chronological age issue, it is an emotional and conduct issue. That is all I have to say about that! Let me hear your comments.
Phil,
Your post and the articles you linked to are thought provoking. When it comes to ageism with technology I have had a great role model in my father who learned to use a computer in his 60s. He was so computer illiterate before but the Internet and email changed his world. He also keeps up-to-date on the latest technology which is challenging for me because it means I have to be on my feet.
When I read Cyndy's article I agree that the best defense is to ignore the inappropriate comments/commenters. Though I don't know what I would do if I were in Kathy's situation. It would probably freak me out as well if I were to get threats for putting myself out there on the web. So, until I am in that situation I really can't judge what others do or think they would do.
I have family members who don't like the fact that I have an online presense. It bothers them that someone could track me down if they wanted to. But the reality of the world we live in today is that anyone can stalk or track down anyone if they want. As I realist I need to take precautions and a sharp eye out for anything unusual. As an idealist I would love a world where we all could feel safe and respected for who we are.
I agree that it takes the community to reign in the offenders. What Scoble did by taking the week off was his way of saying, ENOUGH! I think he got his point across and certainly generated a great deal of discussion about what we should do. You asked what would adults do if a 15 year old interupted a conversation with an inappropriate comment. Most would ignore the 15 year old or tell him/her to come back and join the conversation when they have something of value to contribute.
I tend not to post on digg because it can become a flaming war for little reason. I also don't belong to MySpace because I'm a bit too old for that crowd. That's for my nieces and nephews. The web is becoming more and more generational with different web 2.0 sites aimed at the younger crowd and ones aimed at the aging baby boomers. There is cross over because like you pointed out there are youngsters that are more mature than some 50 year olds out there.
I think the most important thing that came out of Kathy's experience is the discussion it has generated. And, for me I guess the response is to step above those who have a need to belittle others and if someone where to attack me the way Kathy was attacked to ask the community of my fellow bloggers to back me up the way that many have backed Kathy up.
So, that is more than my 2 cents worth. Thanks for posting about this topic and I think it will be a discussion that will be going on for a while.
In response to Sheilah's comment, I didn't miss the point. I think I got it at a much different level than many people did.
I never said I approved or nor condoned what the individuals did. I also said that it was a form of terrorism, and who won? Did they get Ms. Sierra to not speak at a conference? Sure did. Did they get attention and stand out? Sure did. It doesn't make sense to me to let people get exactly what they want when they demand it in unacceptable ways. These people wanted attention, pure and simple, and they weren't happy with Ms. Sierra's public visibility.
It isn't easy to look at situations like this one and NOT respond with a knee-jerk reaction. But the knee-jerk reaction is EXACTLY what these folks are looking for, and it's exactly what they got. So they win. My point was that when you've seen the same situation repeat itself time and time again, you are able to see what the perpetrators want, and hopefully can react in a way that doesn't let them have it.