There’s been some really nasty stuff going around some tech communities recently. I don’t follow a lot of it directly, but some of the detail has come to me indirectly. It’s horrible for all sorts of reasons I won’t go into here.
BUT…I want to point out that this drama is a tiny-but-highly-visible portion of what goes on in tech communities.
Last week I got some amazing help from one of the communities I chat with. Free technical help from 4 or 5 people who wanted nothing in return, and when I offered they suggested I gave to charity, which I willingly did this morning.
This is what’s happening underneath all the drama all the time. In WordPress. In Laravel. In Statamic. In whatever places you hang out there will be good stuff happening.
People helping each other and looking out for one another. People teaming up for support. People being friends and virtual co-workers. People busy answering forum questions. People building cool free (as in both beer and speech) stuff that makes our lives easier.
Yes, we need to tackle what’s bad in these communities. That’s SUPER important. But let’s also elevate, promote, shout about the good stuff.
- Promote an open source project or blog or resource or podcast.
- Give thanks online for the help you get.
- Offer to actually buy a coffee or beer (use Ko-fi.com or paypal.me if helpful) or give to charity when someone gives you help and saves you time/money.
- Support people who do good work.
- Collaborate with your competitors.
There’s so much good stuff going on. Let’s make that known and help it grow.