Keith Moore wrote:
On 6/23/22 11:26, Miles Fidelman wrote:
I was thinking, specifically, of a list admin, or well respected
person having a "side chat" with someone. "Private social pressure"
if you will. It seems to work pretty well on some neighborhood lists
I run - neighbors talking politics - in a Boston suburb known for
it's political correctness. I maintain a hands-off moderation policy
- we're a public forum, if you don't like something, hit your delete
key or call your lawyer - I want neither the headache, nor
liabilities associated with active moderation. But... we do have our
issues - and one of my co-founders - a former city councilwoman - is
known to have private side chats with people when things get out of
hand. Seems to work exceptionally well at toning things down.
And in general I agree that private feedback often works better than
public feedback, if for no other reason than with private feedback the
person getting the feedback doesn't have to consider that many people
will see the response.
But it's different in IETF for several reasons. One is that a WG
chair (who is the default list admin) really should be ensuring
fairness of process, so for them to give even private feedback to an
individual participant can look like they're trying to manipulate the
result. It's dubious to claim consensus when the chair has actively
suppressed certain participants' input, and for them to do so
privately also robs the community of transparency.
I'm not suggesting that a WG chair "suppress" input, as much as let
someone know if they're being making an ass of themselves - and possibly
discrediting their contributions in the process.
But, more than that, I'm suggesting that it's an alternative to a more
heavy handed approach to codes of conduct, moderation, and such.
Personally, I'm perfectly good with just using my delete key, ignoring
less-then-polite behavior, and giving as good as I get. To use another
idiom - I figure that anybody who can't take the heat, shouldn't be in
the kitchen. (My pronoun is "asshole," and if someone truly offends me,
that's what lawyers are for.)
Cheers,
Miles
--
In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice.
In practice, there is. .... Yogi Berra
Theory is when you know everything but nothing works.
Practice is when everything works but no one knows why.
In our lab, theory and practice are combined:
nothing works and no one knows why. ... unknown
