Yeah, I actually have a thread about me on Reddit and how I'm not experienced enough to give advice. Lots of incorrect personal information about me in there too. It was a terrifying experience and something that really hurt me.
It's one thing to call out incorrect technical information so that readers know something is incorrect, but different opinions or incorrect critiques is BS. If you're going to critique someone you have to be 110% knowledgeable on that topic.
Also, they didn't have critiques of my writing (which I would be fine with) but just critiques about me as a person.
I never used reddit. I always try to stay 100% clear of toxic Internet communities. Dev.to is luckily different (for now).
Do you think what happened to you was actually mansplaining and misogyny?
I think our male-dominated tech industry is especially harsh, presumptuous and judgmental towards women. They may feel threatened in their "I was first here" alpha status.
Thanks! To be honest, yeah. I think the way I look, my age, and my gender all play into that. As well as the fact that I talk a lot about beginner topics since I teach programming for my job. But I also see it happening to men in the industry sometimes, so it extends past those factors!
Cofounded Host Collective (DiscountASP.net). Cofounded Player Axis (Social Gaming). Computer Scientist and Technology Evangelist with 20+ years of experience with JavaScript!
I think mansplaining happens and it may more frequently to women. But I have seen the same things happen on Eric Elliott's articles. I would consider him one of the most knowledgeable people in the JavaScript community. But people are still eager to point fingers and say "YOU ARE WRONG".
Cofounded Host Collective (DiscountASP.net). Cofounded Player Axis (Social Gaming). Computer Scientist and Technology Evangelist with 20+ years of experience with JavaScript!
I'm sure you are right. And that might be unavoidable.
It was getting me down for a bit also, but after reading the comments on Eric Eliott's articles, I realized that it also happens to the best.
So it's really less a reflection of the author and more of a problem with the community.
But I agree that there are definitely people that will get it more than others. And even if we don't like it, humans always judge someone on appearance.
Having this discussion is healthy and this may contribute to a tipping point that creates change in the community.
Agreed. It's important to keep the discussions about it going. It seems we live in times where people tend to lose the ability to empathize with each other. I personally think the Internet is to blame for it to some degree. Antisocial and toxic behavior is quite normalized there, and it seems to be spilling over to meat space :-/
I guess I can relate to what Ali and you mention. A couple of years ago I wanted to participate in the C and C++ tagged areas of Stackoverflow, but the leading community figures there set the bar way too high. There is a lot of intellectual snobbery going on. Didn't want to be part of it, and also made me very hesitant to jump in and help out others there, in fear of being attacked by some of those community members.
For further actions, you may consider blocking this person and/or reporting abuse
We're a place where coders share, stay up-to-date and grow their careers.
Yeah, I actually have a thread about me on Reddit and how I'm not experienced enough to give advice. Lots of incorrect personal information about me in there too. It was a terrifying experience and something that really hurt me.
It's one thing to call out incorrect technical information so that readers know something is incorrect, but different opinions or incorrect critiques is BS. If you're going to critique someone you have to be 110% knowledgeable on that topic.
Also, they didn't have critiques of my writing (which I would be fine with) but just critiques about me as a person.
Wow, that's messed up. I'm sorry to hear :-(
I never used reddit. I always try to stay 100% clear of toxic Internet communities. Dev.to is luckily different (for now).
Do you think what happened to you was actually mansplaining and misogyny?
I think our male-dominated tech industry is especially harsh, presumptuous and judgmental towards women. They may feel threatened in their "I was first here" alpha status.
Thanks! To be honest, yeah. I think the way I look, my age, and my gender all play into that. As well as the fact that I talk a lot about beginner topics since I teach programming for my job. But I also see it happening to men in the industry sometimes, so it extends past those factors!
I think mansplaining happens and it may more frequently to women. But I have seen the same things happen on Eric Elliott's articles. I would consider him one of the most knowledgeable people in the JavaScript community. But people are still eager to point fingers and say "YOU ARE WRONG".
I'm sure you are right. And that might be unavoidable.
It was getting me down for a bit also, but after reading the comments on Eric Eliott's articles, I realized that it also happens to the best.
So it's really less a reflection of the author and more of a problem with the community.
But I agree that there are definitely people that will get it more than others. And even if we don't like it, humans always judge someone on appearance.
Having this discussion is healthy and this may contribute to a tipping point that creates change in the community.
Keep blogging on.
Agreed. It's important to keep the discussions about it going. It seems we live in times where people tend to lose the ability to empathize with each other. I personally think the Internet is to blame for it to some degree. Antisocial and toxic behavior is quite normalized there, and it seems to be spilling over to meat space :-/
I guess I can relate to what Ali and you mention. A couple of years ago I wanted to participate in the C and C++ tagged areas of Stackoverflow, but the leading community figures there set the bar way too high. There is a lot of intellectual snobbery going on. Didn't want to be part of it, and also made me very hesitant to jump in and help out others there, in fear of being attacked by some of those community members.