---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: <jmeredit@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, Feb 25, 2021 at 10:07 AM
Subject: Re: [boo] Re: Discussion
To: Teresa Hertzel <teresa.hertzel@xxxxxxxxx>
Try monthly posting of guidelines. I know I already said it, but if many
don't read it when they subscribe...judy
On 2021-02-25 15:50, Teresa Hertzel wrote:
OBOL is extraordinarily diverse.
This is, as they say, both a blessing and a curse.
(Is there a rhyme in there somewhere?)
The trick is to make everyone toe the line with respect for others. This is
almost impossible, I have discovered. 2,000 people are never going to agree
about something. If you say the sky is blue, there will be people who swear
it is yellow. We have young new birders mixed in with old experienced
birders and they almost can't help insulting one another. I think the
thing is to be constantly alert and diligent about abuse, but I don't know
how to make newbies feel less intimidated and more welcome. IN FACT, a
young lady subscribed just this morning, and I must admit I don't think she
read the guidelines (most people don't), but she posted one thing ("Why
wouldn't you be on the side of women? Am I in the wrong group? Wow." --
received a reply that made her feel unwelcome, and promptly unsubscribed.
We lost her already!
On Thu, Feb 25, 2021 at 9:23 AM Lorelle Sherman <lorelle.sherman@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Good morning Teresa,
I appreciate this question. I have been an OBOL user since 2015 (so I'm
relatively new in comparison with most). I am part of the academic crowd
that does bird-related research. However, I was a birder first and always
will be. I posted sightings from 2015-2017ish, but was met with an
exclusionary unwelcoming ambience (a whole nother topic that's been
discussed over and over again) that I decided to remove myself from and
transition to passive observation of OBOL emails. The long drawn out
arguments often make me want to unsubscribe, and in fact that's what I
reluctantly did recently. Not because they aren't necessary, but because
the resulting conversation is more often than not... frustrating. This is a
very challenging set of questions, because these issues *need* to be talked
about, but the way they are being talked about does not feel in any way
inclusive or representative, and therefore they do not feel productive.
I'd like to offer my opinion based on limited knowledge of how OBOL was in
its inception up through 2015.
Do you think the OBOL guidelines need to be changed?
-Recognizing that moderation is a big job and I'm assuming totally
volunteer-based, is it possible to assign additional moderators whose
job(s) are totally devoted to responding to bullying? Maybe no one wants to
do it and that's the problem? It may help to develop a few lines of text
that demonstrate the policies and response to policies that can easily be
plugged into an e-mail for responses of first- (or second- third-) time
offenders of policies.
Do you think the Board violated their own policies by posting a statement
about violence against women on the birding listserv?
-This is tough. I guess technically it goes against what the OBOL list
serve is about. However, normalizing support and discussion on this topic
is so so necessary. Possibly it could have just been posted to BOO and to
Instagram? That being said, I was not bothered in any way by their decision
to post it to OBOL, but I completely understand how others could be
bothered by that (just as I've been bothered by other things on OBOL).
How should OBOL handle people who are perceived as bullying others?
-First offence, immediate action internally. Message the person and express
that their behavior does not align with the policies of OBOL. Second
offence, temporary block. Third offence, permanent block.
How can OBOL be more friendly and welcoming?
-What if there were intentional posts that welcomed newbies to respond?
Possibly as organized as a monthly "Ask a birder" or "ID help" or "What
excites you most about birding" posts where less frequent users are
*encouraged* to respond? This might help people build courage to respond
otherwise.
-Sometimes it feels as though there's a 'weirdness' between bird
researchers and lifetime birders. I wonder how we could foster the idea
that these two styes of expertise go hand in hand and man, oh man, just
think of what we could learn and understand if we integrated them! Again,
maybe intentional topic-based posts that examine a particular species or
conservation topic intentionally welcoming and encouraging both viewpoints.
- I wonder how actual visual contact between users may influence
thoughtfulness when responding in the future. Is there any interest in
monthly or 4x per year OBOL Zoom gatherings where folks discuss a birding
related topic? Maybe this is not desired for this platform.
OBA has a few hundred members, I think it's right around 300, but I don't
have the exact number. OBOL has almost 2,000, so the vast majority are not
OBA members. Do you think OBOL should be broken off from OBA and no longer
be under their umbrella?
-I've never tightly linked the two entities in my brain. They feel
entirely different to me, an outsider. Not sure if that helps.
Many thanks,
Lorelle Sherman
