One thing I’ve learned about the Holden/GiveWell controversy is how n00bish people in the philanthropic community are about the Web. A n00b is nerdspeak for a “newbie”. One of its contexts is when it’s used to describe someone who doesn’t understand the mores of the particular online community you’re in.
The original reaction by Lucy Bernholz to the affair was probably the most n00bish of them all:
…The complaint appears to be rampant self-promotion, violating the rules of the MetaFilter community. Holden has been “rampantly self-promoting” from the day I met him, has pissed off old-line philanthropy for this reason as well, and I find it simply odd that it makes folks mad. Maybe they just envy his consistent promotion of GiveWell?
This was critiqued quite well by Jeff Trexler. You don’t go off on online communities because they represent the wisdom of the crowd (or the mob if you’re on the sharp end of an online community’s collective pointed stick). Only a n00b would do this. One thing you learn as you become more and more versed in the Web’s peculiar intricacies is that you don’t dismiss other people’s opinions and in fact, a more nuanced and honest appraisal of the matter is almost always appreciated by readers. I’ve found that most of the lead opinion makers in online communities are that way because they voice their opinions well and in a manner that is usually emotionally appealing.
Phil Cubeta seems to have enraged them as well with his nutty and ill-advised comments about GiveWell. I’ve been less and less enamored of GiftHub and its alter blog, Wealth Bondage because of its pseudo-arcane references to classical and Victorian-era literature. I happen to have majored in English literature (with a focus on literary theory). However, I think it’s not always a good idea to show people what you have learned and what they have yet to learn. It’s better to share and to add to the conversation. That’s old-school Web culture.
Phil is getting raked over the coals over at MetaFilter. That’s right — he managed to annoy MetaFilter users in two separate comment threads within less than a week. MetaFilter is fundamentally democratic when it comes to online discussion and tends to dismiss anything that speaks of academic, ivory-tower intellectualism. Most online communities prefer online opinion making that is inclusive of the various cultural and academic backgrounds of their users. There’s room for academic allusions but just not if you’re talking to a general thread composed of a general set of users. Phil had to alter his discursive style to suit the needs of a diverse community but not until several commenters took him to task. And he would have found this out had he done the normal thing that you do when you join a community. You lurk, find out how things are done, lurk some more, sound out people on topics and generally try to be helpful. In fact, Phil got this comment from a MetaFilter user in response to one of his hamhanded comments:
Is there a culture of bullying on Metafi, is it condoned, does it spill over into raids and witch hunts, and what can or should be done to turn it around?
posted by PhilCubeta at 12:23 PM on January 13No, no, no, nothing, and nothing. Try being a member for more than a week.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 12:26 PM on January 13 [10 favorites]
And that’s how online communities work — you get no love just for being there a few days. It takes work to drive up your reputational currency. That’s how it is in the real world as well. And another thing, don’t accuse an entire community of bullying. It’s an unwinnable war even if you’re right. And frankly, MetaFilter, in my opinion, is one of the best communities on the Web — you don’t get points with me by thrashing MetaFilter without even really being part of it.
There are further examples as well. Mitch Nauffts says that the lessons learned from the Givewell fracas were:
- Viral marketing (the point of which seems to be to deceive the gullible and unsuspecting) is an idea whose time has passed;
- Online communities are a poor substitute for the real thing;
- Unless you live in Myanmar or Zimbabwe, anonymity is the refuge of cowards;
- Arrogance will always come back to bit you in the a**;
- Self-righteousness, in any context, is a singularly unattractive quality.
I agree with the last two points but the first three, pertaining to online communities and viral marketing are way, way off base. And eventually, the commenters took him to task. It’s n00bish to raise a 1990s-style debate about whether online communities are just as good as offline ones. Sigh. And it’s a pretty huge leap in logic to go from GiveWell to saying that viral marketing doesn’t make sense. Or that anonymity is for cowards — which seems to be a swipe at all of the MetaFilter members. It shows a lack of familiarity with online communities and frankly, commits the same n00bish mistake of trying to tackle an online community head-on with very little participation in that community.
My word of advice: Don’t be a n00b online. It makes the nonprofit sector look like a bunch of Web wannabes. Take a long, doubly long time to post and don’t shoot from the hip. It almost never works to be glib when you join an online community that may have its own long-held sense of ritual, jargon and custom.
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