When people see content they agree with and want to support, that mostly gets expressed through upvotes; when they see content they disagree with, that’s more likely to result in writing a comment. This biases the perceived reception in a negative direction.
Agreed. I think I previously had some vague belief in something like this being true, but reading the above really helped crystalize the belief. And if true, I think it’s important.
It makes me think back to this talk about code review.
“Your code is bad and you are bad. Have a bad day.” Too many code reviews feel like this, and it saps the enthusiasm that drives open source. Instead, let’s explore how to give reviews that are truthful but encouraging, boosting the skill level of contributors and the quality of the project. We’ll look at “tact hacks” that nudge communication in a friendly direction, antipatterns to avoid, the pesky human emotions that can tempt us into reviewing poorly, and techniques for leveling up newcomers without losing all your coding time.
Agreed. I think I previously had some vague belief in something like this being true, but reading the above really helped crystalize the belief. And if true, I think it’s important.
It makes me think back to this talk about code review.