[wp-hackers] WordPress and Poisonous People

[Andy Skelton]

On Thu, Apr 1, 2010 at 8:36 AM, Jane Wells <jane at automattic.com> wrote:
> The thing is, Ryan wasn't talking about the entire WordPress project, he was
> talking about the developers' mailing list. So yeah, in this particular
> case, they kind of are, right? Non-coders are not the intended audience of
> the list, hence the name: wp-hackers.

Hackers adapt. When the mailing list becomes noisy we don't waste time
reading every message; we almost unconsciously learn to ignore
specific people and threads and take our conversations elsewhere.
"Don't feed the troll" applies to the thing they are most hungry for:
audience.

That's right! Most of the noise never even penetrates the minds of the
real hackers.

Unfortunately for the list, the S/N ratio takes double damage because
while Noise breeds Noise (positive feedback loop) Signal abhors Noise
and takes itself elsewhere (negative feedback).

Where does the signal go? I'll never tell.

Sorry for posting in a noise thread,
Andy

cc: wp-trolls at lists.automattic.com