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Tuesday, March 19, 2002


More on my AtmosphereTM-ic adventures

As one might expect, this community is much different than the one I'm part of at OISE/UT. Maybe the most significant factor is that it's not moderated. This makes what constitutes "fair play" harder to define. I'm intrigued by the latitude regarding acceptable behaviour in the Atmosphere world. Well not so much by the latitude itself, but rather the way participants self-moderate during interaction.

Because anyone can say anything -- and due in part, I'm sure, to the anonyminity ("Tester") afforded first-time participants -- some act inappropriately. From my experience, offending Testers are dealt with in one of three ways:

  • humor, typically at the offender's expense
  • being ignored on the hopes s/he will go away (sometimes this strategy is suggested by a participant)
  • directly challenged -- "Tester, is there a problem?"

Each has worked. From what I've seen, the actual outcome depends on two factors:

  • the content and volume of the offending posts
  • the composition of the group

There are a number of "regulars" at the Adobe Home World and some of them, it seems, suffer fools more gladly than others. That said, these same regulars are extremely informative and helpful with those that "play nice." Just what you might expect as a member of any community.





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