IRC is a low-bandwidth method of communication, in comparison with physical presence. Many of the cues of physical communication, tone of voice, facial expression, hand movements, etc., are missing in IRC, since only text is transmitted back and forth.

Speakers in physical proximity with each other communicate quite a bit of emotional context via this extra bandwidth. This context enables them to avoid misjudging the intent of their conversational partners. It also functions as an unconscious negative feedback mechanism to reduce the incidence of emotional "firestorms" which tend to disrupt the efficient flow of conversation. Human beings look for this feedback and indeed they may be designed to require it. In the low-bandwidth world of IRC, they must get emotional feedback via the text they receive.

This process is subject to exaggeration. Small amounts of emotion become magnified in the perception of the observer. So, it is very important to keep channels calm. An informal conceptual measurement of the emotional content of a channel is its "channel temperature."

Think of a person's emotional state as kinetic energy. Enthusiasm, happiness, anger, frustration, all add to the energy level. The more emotion is experienced, the "hotter" the participant. The average emotional state of a channel is its temperature. Emotions in IRC become exaggerated and conveying them directly increases channel temperature. Pent-up frustration, in particular, is often released as a series of inappropriate, "high energy" outbursts. An important objective of the Open Projects Net channel guidelines is to reduce positive feedback in channel interactions by reducing channel temperature.

The guidelines which follow are optional. Nonetheless, they are designed with the benefit of years of experience with IRC, beginning during the 1993-1994 period when the design limitations of IRC began to become clear due to the increasing scale of IRC networks. Adopting the guidelines will help you improve the quality of your channel.

We intentionally avoid drawing a distinction between channel operators and users. Everyone is a user, regardless of their privilege level, and each user has the ability to influence the usability of the channel.

Guidelines:

• Polish your catalyst skills. The catalyst role is key to keeping channel interactions friendly and efficient.
  
  
• Don't keep channel operator privileges. Displaying these privileges on your nick with a "+o" attracts participants who are interested in gaining them and using them actively. Have your nick added to the channel access list and op yourself only when needed.
  
  
• Use channel operator privileges sparingly. Each time you use them you raise the channel temperature. Users will be pleased with you, angry at you, frustrated that you used them inappropriately, envious that you have control over the discussion. None of these reactions may be conscious on the part of other users, but all of them increase the channel temperature.
  
  
• Avoid highlighting and repetition. Words and sentences in all-uppercase, heavy use of highlighting, beeping (^G) on public channels, repeating the same lines over and over--all of these behaviors irritate people and raise the channel temperature.
  
  
• Avoid emotive speech. Slang pertaining to sex and sexual orientation, excretion and religious oaths is rarely used to discuss the applicability of those topics to free software. In general, language with strong emotional content and only light meaning should be considered "emotive speech". It doesn't matter whether the language is socially acceptable or unacceptable. For example, use of the word "fsck" which does not refer to a Unix filesystem check is emotive. Similarly, use of the word "gay" which has nothing to do with homosexuality is emotive. Emotive speech raises the channel temperature.
  
  
• Avoid advocacy debates. Gnome versus KDE, vi versus emacs, RMS versus ESR, BSD versus GPL, threaded versus non-blocking I/O. These discussions are often religious, may not involve significant new ideas and can raise the channel temperature quite a bit. Certain advocacy discussions, such as those revolving around actual religion or politics, are almost guaranteed to raise the channel temperature to levels that make other conversation difficult. You might not get too worked up if you're arguing the relative merits of poll() or kqueue(), but if you walk into a discussion with a strong emotional need to "get your way," consider the possibility you are simply arguing preference or personal affiliation. Advocacy discussions are best held quietly, via /msg, or on channels especially created for the purpose.
  
  
• Take critiques to private message. Criticizing someone's behavior on channel holds them up to public scrutiny in a negative way. It's usually overkill. In your messages, don't address the subject of whether you have channel operator privileges; just be courteous. Request nicely that they change their behavior. In many cases you'll discover that problem user you are dealing with is merely inexperienced. An aggressive tone makes for a longer and more involved discussion, and pent-up frustration which will raise the channel temperature sooner or later. You can always use channel operator privileges, or have someone else use them, as needed; but with a courteous tone, you'll need to do that a lot less.
  
  

Copyright © 2001-2002 Open Projects Network.
Current network date and approximate time: Friday, 14-Jun-2002 23:44:02 GMT.
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