Re: Notification to list from the IETF Moderators team

[Keith Moore <moore@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dhruv & Dominque,

While I pretty much agree with John's post, I think that fundamentally 
it's hard to make your role a constructive one given the constraints in 
which you're expected to operate.   The very fact that the moderators 
send email to someone carries with it an implied threat whether you want 
it to or not, and that doesn't exactly set the best context even if you 
are perfectly polite.   Suggesting changes to people's language isn't 
always seen as constructive advice, and can seem a lot like coercion, or 
if not that, at least be creepy and annoying.  And the very fact that 
you're sending mail to someone can be seen as lending support to the 
intolerant side of the community that's hostile to open dialog (who are, 
IMO sadly, even more evident now than ever).   Under those conditions I 
expect it's hard to convey the message "we're trying to help you express 
yourself more effectively".

I've already spoken about the "calling out" problem.  I think 
transparency is essential here - including for early stages of 
engagement - since the community needs a reason to be confident that the 
moderators are impartial and apply the rules fairly.   But it's 
difficult to balance the need for transparency against the fact that 
"calling out" is almost never constructive.

If there's any hope of such an engagement being constructive, I suggest 
that listening, more than talking, is key to it.

Good luck.  I think we do still need moderators occasionally, even if I 
sometimes disagree with the actions, and I thank you for being willing 
to do that difficult work.   But fundamentally the bigger problem now 
looks to me not like the occasional impolite speaker, but the tremendous 
division and hostility that now seems to unfortunately exist in our 
community (and maybe in the wider world).    I don't think more 
moderation or control is likely to improve that situation; what seems to 
be needed is less adversarial process and more identification of common 
ground and basis for mutual trust.

Keith