Proposed new guiding principle for the manifesto: flat hierarchical structure

[Cleop]

I wish to add another heading to the manifesto as suggested by @nelsonic in #12.

Many of the people who are already part of the dwyl community and who may have had a chance to get a feel for the organisation in person may know that dwyl does not value people's contributions according to a hierarchy. However, for those who may come across dwyl with less background knowledge it may be valuable to point out that dwyl has a flat hierarchical structure.

What I mean by this is that:

• Anyone/ everyone should feel comfortable voicing their opinions and contributing regardless of gender, ethnicity, disability, sexuality, background etc.
• People should not feel inferior or 'less qualified' to contribute if they have less experience than someone else

Why do I think this is important?

Sometimes the web can be nice and friendly, at other times not so much... I think it's key to ensure that people know that dwyl is an inviting and welcoming organisation without intimidating hierarchies. I think this is especially important given the different ways people use spaces whether that be influenced by their gender or other factors, dwyl should feel welcoming to all. I don't think I'm alone in having seen an online forum/conversation before and thinking 'I'm too nervous to contribute, it looks intimidating'.

I'm not sure if the term 'flat hierarchical structure' is the most relevant and would love to hear other people's thoughts on this and the principle more widely?

There is currently the following point on Accessibility which is perhaps related:

Accessibility: Whilst we don’t know exactly what this is going to look like yet, we’re counting on our community of users to let us know exactly what they need from day 1.

However to me this point feels more directed at 'our community of users' rather than people who may not consider themselves within this remit but perhaps more as developers.

[ghost]

Anyone/ everyone should feel comfortable voicing their opinions and contributing regardless of gender, ethnicity, disability, sexuality, background etc.

Completely agree 👍

People should not feel inferior or 'less qualified' to contribute if they have less experience than someone else

Completely agree 👍

Inclusivity perhaps as a heading?

How do you define flat hierarchical structure, @Cleop ? This has the potential to be interpreted in a few different ways. dwyl doesn't [currently] have the same committee-based and democratic decision making model that F&C has (one of the possible ways it could be interpreted).

[ghost]

I don't think I'm alone in having seen an online forum/conversation before and thinking 'I'm too nervous to contribute, it looks intimidating'.

@Cleop would be great to have your feedback about specific conversations that made you feel this so that dwyl can iterate on communication and improve how public conversations are interpreted. We can implement this in the contributing guide / code of conduct. If you don't want to share this feedback publicly then please email me 😄 mark@dwyl.io (otherwise please do share any thoughts here!)

[YvesMuyaBenda]

Just another perspective, from the information publicly available, and just general people-watching, I was able to extrapolate something of that "flat-hierarchical structure". Personaly, I feel comfortable diving in and interacting with folk, because in that way one can rapidly gain information about one's environment. So far, the folk at dwyl, are as I expected them to be, open to contributions, taking time to listen, and using other opinions in weighing a decision. From my own personality attributes, I am quite open to all manner of people from different backgrounds, and try to take folk as I see the; however, in techinical fora, such as one devoted to programing topics, expertise is generally appreciated, and many beginners might freeze at perceiving folk much more technically comfortable/competent. For myself, I just jumped in, trying to find ways to contribute, while expecting that I will become more tecnically competent over time, but also, it is fun to see what folk like @nelsonic talk about and how they describe the topics, for this gives one a personal benchmark, as well as describing future topics to research.

For sure, dwyl has created a more welcoming and open and tolerant culture than is the norm, and for that, many congratulations!

[newswim]

Google has a free course on Web Accessibility: https://webaccessibility.withgoogle.com/course

[Cleop]

@markwilliamfirth I think 'inclusivity' is definitely a better term than flat hierarchy to reflect the values I was trying to allude to.

My thoughts on past experiences/ a welcoming environment aren't a criticism or reflection of dwyl specifically but more the feelings/ vulnerability that certain people may feel approaching any online community. It's great to hear that @YvesMuyaBenda has felt welcome and comfortable contributing and I hope that the same thing can be said for many other people. I think that having a small message to make our inclusive values clear may help some more voices emerge who perhaps up until now have felt too shy. Improving inclusivity in tech is obviously difficult when sometimes the voices of those who are excluded can't be heard (if they don't feel comfortable to express themselves). So I suppose what I'm saying is, I'd like to take every precaution to ensure that an already welcoming system is made extra-welcoming as I can't see that anything can be lost by doing so?

I hope that makes sense. From my own perspective I think watching the film Code: Debugging the Gender Gap was a turning point on my own journey and for my own voice. As a woman I think growing up I didn't feel that technology was a sphere that I 'belonged' to. Sometimes organisations have to go the extra mile to break down barriers that wider society has created.

[YvesMuyaBenda]

@Cleop The gender gap in tech; being male, I cannot speak to the feelings of women in tech. For sure, I do tend to become ecstatically happy in the presence of intelligent women. Sure, I do belong to a minority, but I tend not to think about it too much, and I did not think about it too much during my Maths degree. When I think of inclusivity, I tend to think more of "equal opportunity"; in the sense that some folk who grew up or exist in certain backgrounds, might find it easier to pick up certain skills, and easier to "break into" a given industry/community. or to feel comfortable within a given industry/community. I mostly think of myself as less contributing, and more having a chat with interesting people on topics of interest. However, I do suspect being profoundly introverted might be a bit akward within the modern mood of social media and meetups and whatnot, but not too akward.

Off the top of my head, the welcoming mood is best demonstrated in person, by the behaviour of folk in a group, and the diversity of folk in a group (many people tend to look for those that are "like them" ). However, as you have said, I do not see any significant outlay, and no negatives, in making it hyper-explicit.

[ghost]

I think that having a small message to make our inclusive values clear may help some more voices emerge who perhaps up until now have felt too shy

@Cleop completely agree with you - adding this to the md file is a good first step to defining that as one of the values and making it well-known. @iteles is actually in the process of creating a new dwyl values document (you're right that these old ones are outdated) and we should have a draft by Monday!

I also agree we should also actively be doing other things to promote inclusivity in the community in general, since this is one of our values - I guess we can open a new issue for this to be collectively discussed!

https://github.com/dwyl/hq/issues/266

[YvesMuyaBenda]

For sure, someone who knows the ins and outs of dwyl should craft the document, but just for the fun of writing copy:

DWYL is an inclusive and open organisation. Here your ethnicity, gender, sexuality, disability, or age does not stop you from being heard. Whatever boxes society puts you in or not, you should always feel comfortable expressing your voice. Whether you have less than three months experience with programming, or three decades; whether you are the newest newbie or a grizzled veteran, we want to hear what you think. We very much appreciate and look forward to your input.

[iteles]

For the record, seeing as @Cleop mentioned Code: Debugging the Gender Gap, it's funny to note that it was at a screening of that film at JustGiving in London that @nelsonic and I met her! 💁