IRCNEWBIES PART II
"THE WAY AHEAD"
History is bound to repeat itself unless people learn from the past and try to work together as a team to create a better future. The present problems on ircnewbies are based on the fact that people ignore the lessons of history and just repeat the same mistakes time and time again. While I’ve seen some encouraging signs coming from the channel recently, the significant problems that have caused the channel to have countless Op and Bot disputes in the past still exist today.
I’ve already suggested that people first need to have the desire to make positive changes, be prepared to make the needed effort for changes to work and to leave the culture of the past in the past. Another important thing people need to do though is to look past quick fix solutions to problems. Quick fixes usually address only the symptoms of a problem so it goes away or doesn’t hurt as much. Quick fixes however don’t solve the problems they just delay you having to deal with the real problem until a later time.
Quick fixes have been attempted and failed on ircnewbies over the years. If the channel is to improve we need to stop using quick fix solutions to serious and complex problems and look at the real causes of problems and find constructive solutions. I have been involved with the channel since January of 1996 as both an Op and channel regular, of all the people that still go to ircnewbies I have had one of the longest involvements with the channel.
In my time on the channel I have observed quite a lot of people and events on the channel both good and bad. My real life career providing technical support has also given me some insight into how any group of people wishing to provide quality technical support to others, should be done.
What follows are some of the basic major problems and concerns I believe should be addressed and actioned as a matter of urgency. I don’t claim to have or know all the answers, no one person does. It is my hope that these concerns along with those that others raise will be seriously discussed further at an appropriate time and place.
Discussed in a well meaning and respectful manner. I should point out that that everything I talk about in this series of articles is not confined to ircnewbies but can apply equally to other channels. Some of these channels are still around others have recently or long since ceased operation because they couldn’t deal with or resolve the problems and issues, which I’m discussing here.
WHY ARE WE HERE
Why is ircnewbies here, is the channel a help channel, what is it’s purpose, what is it meant to achieve, what do channel Ops want out of the channel, what responsibilities do Ops have and how should the channel go about achieving it’s goals? These are the most difficult but basic questions that need to be answered.
When these questions are answered they could form the basis of a channel mission statement. I consider the first step to solve many of the problems the channel currently faces is the development of a mission statement that answers the above questions.
It is absolutely vital as it acts as the foundation that holds everything else together. Consider when building a house you need to build a strong foundation or the house will fall down around you. It is also the first step because there is a natural order of events that needs to be obeyed. In other words you can’t put the roof on the house without first building the foundation and other framework needed to support the roof.
The mission statement shouldn’t be drawn up only by current channel Ops. Every Op who was unfairly dismissed in September ’98 or who has left the channel since and the channel regulars from that period along with current channel Ops and regulars should be invited to take part in the process, providing they wish to take part.
The process should involve everyone who has a steak or interest in the channel and it must be a process done openly. Eventually everyone (or a large majority) must agree to a finished statement. If there is not almost total agreement or people don’t want to follow the mission statement then the channel will find itself repeating the same mistakes from the history of the channel.
CHANNEL GUIDELINES (THE RULE BOOK)
In the past various people have attempted to introduce Op Guides, Op codes of conduct, Rulebooks, Guidelines, Op procedures or policies as well as rules for the channel regulars / Visitors. Some people want minimal rules just giving a broad outlines and dealing with any crisis when/if it happens verses the people who want to write War and Peace (long) style rule books for every possible situation. How big or detailed the rules should be or even if there should be any rules has always been a cause of concern and disputes in the channel.
There are problems developing, implementing and maintaining rules of any kind that everyone is prepared to follow, that are reasonable, fair and that doesn’t take away the fun of IRC. Another problem with rules is that everyone always interprets, re-interprets or reinvents the rules differently and based on the current situation to justify following or breaching rules.
There is also the question of how to enforce the rules on people that break them and who should enforce the rules. There is no real practical way of enforcing them on people if they decide they don’t want to follow them. Some people have broken the rules because they know there are no real penalties or consequences for their actions.
If an attempt were made to enforce the rules for example preventing Op A from being an Op due to rule breaking it usually results in serious disputes involving people taking sides. In the worst cases it can and has lead to channel wars and splits.
Despite the fact there are a lot of potential problems or drawbacks introducing, maintaining and enforcing rules the alternative of not having them is not any better in my opinion. No rules means there are no standards, no accountability or responsibility and people more or less have a free reign doing anything they wish.
I am not in favour of a huge amount of rules. What I propose is a general set of guidelines based on principles that would build on what is in the channel’s mission statement. Any set of rules developed I believe need principles to be at the core of them.
Principles and concepts such as Honesty, Decency, Professionalism, Courtesy, Communication, Team work, Trust, Fairness, self determination, maturity, ethics and Respect are a good basis for developing some standard guidelines for the channel. Most people don’t disagree that these principles are important and worth following.
Where disagreement sometimes arises is when people try to implement them. Like the mission statement the rules development should involve everyone and done in an open fashion.
If common sense is used and people are willing to support and follow these principle based set of guidelines then disputes in any channel could be greatly reduced. Developing some general guidelines based on principles is the second step needed to build the channels foundation.
THE FAMILY CHANNEL CONCEPT
One of the rules/guidelines that was in most sets of rules that ever saw the light of day in the past has been that of the “family channel”. The family channel concept was basically a rule about the language use in the channel. It stated that ircnewbies is a channel that people do not swear or use foul language in. It also stated that the channel was a Help channel with general chat but not a pick up joint or singles bar.
One of the most major changes in direction and tone of the ircnewbies of today has been the rejection and dropping of the family channel concept. The shelving of this has meant the language standard in the channel has dropped considerably, resulting in lots of swearing, flirting and talking about sex.
It should be noted that not every channel Op or regular in the channel does this but there are people that do on a regular basis whenever they feel like it which has the effect of indirectly or directly encouraging others to use poor language.
Why has the family channel concept been dropped so completely though? A major reason is due to human nature. Everyone is different in what they consider offensive. People from particular backgrounds, cultures (society), countries, upbringings or beliefs (such as religious) could find a word or an expression offensive and react to the use of the word or expression, while others wouldn’t be offended by the same words or expressions.
So when the Family Channel concept/rule was in operation on ircnewbies one person would judge another person’s words and expressions based on their own standards and beliefs about what was and wasn’t offensive. They didn’t always consider that someone else might have different standards and beliefs about language use. Due to the fact that some people tried to force their personal views about what was and wasn’t offensive on others the rule was at times taken to extremes.
Some people thought other people were trying to be restrictive and trying to control what people did and how they behaved while they were on the channel. When taken to extremes the purpose of the rule seemed to change from one of creating an atmosphere where people could learn and have fun to one of attempted censorship and control. This in my opinion is what led to the concept/rule of the family channel being dropped.
On the other hand some people knew that other people would be offended and react to certain words or expressions so did it on purpose just to get the reaction. A situation also developed where some Ops would enforce the family channel rule and others would not. It all depended on who was Opping when you went into the channel.
I think having some language standards in the channel is a good idea and is much better then the alternative of the “anything goes” policy. I think the Family Channel concept should survive in a modified form so it can do what it was originally intended to do and can actually work. Family Channel version II should take into account various peoples points of view about the use of language.
Like the mission statement and channel guidelines everyone should work together in an open manner to try and come up with a language use policy that is practical and workable. This is the third step of building a strong foundation for the channel. Using offensive language of any kind should be banned when directed at any individual or group. This should also apply to any racial or discriminatory expressions or terms.
THE PEOPLE
The last part of building a strong foundation for the channel and the part that binds the mission statement, channel guidelines and language use elements of the foundation together is consideration of the people on the channel and what type of contributions they make to the channel.
Simply put it is the people that form the heart, the soul, determine the tone, culture and atmosphere of any channel on IRC. People are the most important ingredient of any channel, without them there would be no channel.
Whether the person is an Op, regular or visitor each person or group of people contributes something to the channels they spend time in. Each individual persons behaviour determines if the contribution they make is positive or negative.
In my time on IRC I have observed that there are three types of Ops. When talking about the types of Ops I would like to stress that I’m not specifically talking about any one individual currently or formerly involved with this or any other channel. I am grouping together the chrematistics of each type of Op that I’ve encountered on IRC and making a few generalizations. From my observations every channel seems to have three types of Ops or combinations of them.
Some Ops are good at helping, chatting and dealing with people, in other words they have people and communication skills. These types of Ops answer the questions and provide the requested information. They also help to build the environment or atmosphere the channel operates under.
Some Ops have a great deal of technical knowledge about IRC, mIRC, Windows/Unix/Linux and Bots providing the channel with a means of continued function and operation plus providing protection from flooding, takeovers etc. These people with a lot of technical knowledge don’t always have the amount of people or communication skills others do so don’t answer as many questions. They sometimes don’t really want to answer questions but instead play with bots or write scripts.
The third type of Op is the one that is only interested in having a @ for the fun of it. They also tend to be interested in the perceived status, the power, control and influence a @ gives over other people. Sometimes these types of Ops use their technical skills with bots to gain the level of control they desire. They also sometimes use various forms of manipulation to get other people to follow them. They usually surround themselves with people that are willing to allow them selves to be led. These types of Ops don’t like people who question them about their decisions or motives.
They are more interested in running a channel the way they want so they use what some might call an authoritarian or dictatorship style of leadership and don’t take much interest in more democratic styles of running a channel (more on channel management in part III).
This type of Op should be avoided if possible in my opinion due to the fact they are nearly always seem to be more interested in themselves and obtaining whatever it is they want without much (if any) concern for the consequences of their actions, rights/feelings of other people or the well being of the channel(s) they are on.
The contributions of channel regulars those people that started life as visitors and decided to stay should not be forgotten or under valued, they like Ops add a lot to channels. Channel regulars are also there helping people, providing assistance to Ops, keeping the channel going, making the channel an interesting place for them and Ops to go and so on. Channel Regulars are often also tomorrows next generation of Ops. How good the next generation of Ops are depends on the guidance and training they receive from more experienced Ops.
A channel that wishes to be successful and avoid disputes needs the first two types of Ops plus a group of regulars and a steady stream of new people visiting the channel. If a channel lacks a balanced mixture of the first two types of Ops then it will not achieve it’s full potential.
IRCNEWBIES currently suffers from such an imbalance of Ops. In the past and up until September ’98 there was more of a balance of the both types of Ops then there currently is which has caused this serious imbalance to form.
LACK OF EXPERIENCE
Not only does ircnewbies currently suffer from an imbalance of the two recommended types of Ops that make a channel strong and able to function more effectively, it suffers from a lack of Ops with many years of experience working on a Help Channel.
This shortage of Ops with three, four or more years of experience was again caused by the unfair dismissal of the majority of the channels most experienced Ops in September ‘98. The channel has lost a huge amount of accumulated knowledge, experience, skills and resources due to the loss of so many experienced Ops.
No disrespect meant to any current Op on the channel but the channel has never really fully recovered from the dumping of all it’s most experienced Ops and the channel has suffered and continues to suffer as a result. The result of the lack of long term experienced Ops contributing to the channel in a variety of ways means that ircnewbies is failing to reach the potential it has demonstrated previously that it is capable of achieving.
The channel needs to attempt to get some of its more experienced Ops back. Many of the old Ops I’m sure would be interested in coming back as active Ops or talking about the possibility of some how contributing positively to the channel. If they knew and it could be shown there was a genuine effort to make the channel into a better place then the one they left or thrown out of. A place Were people can get Help, Chat, Learn and have some fun while doing it.
TRAINING OPS
Being an Op on a Help Channel is different from being an Op on a chat/fun channel. While there is some similarities between chat and help channels there are in my mind significant differences between these two types of channel. Some wouldn’t agree with that but in my mind help channels are more formal and structured then a chat channel.
To make it all work you need some specialized training. In the past on the channel there was a trainee Op policy in place where more experienced Ops would act as Op role models, sponsors or mentors for the new Ops.
Older Ops would teach newer Ops the technical knowledge about being an Op. More valuable was the talk and training that concentrated on such things as the responsibly that went with the @, how to handle people and how to handle different situations. This mainly informal training would take place until the new Op had learnt enough to stand on their own feet.
Once in a while there was Op training days where a temp channel would be set up and people who were new to being an Op or people that wanted to be could try the @ out and learn from people who had lots of knowledge and skills to pass on.
Due to the fact that ircnewbies is suffering from a lack of long term experienced Ops (both current experienced Ops and those who were dismissed) who are available to teach and guide newer Ops and there is no training program currently in place that I’m aware of the newer Ops will have very little choice but to learn by trail and error.
If they had access to the knowledge and skills of Ops with longer periods of experience and who were prepared to train them and share information newer Ops would benefit quite a lot. Better training would potentially be able to improve the quality of service the channel offers to its customers (the newbies). I am not meaning to suggest the quality of current Ops is bad or below standard but they could in theory be better if they got quality training.
OP MOTIVATION
One important issue associated with Ops that has been overlooked in the past is that of keeping the Ops motivated, interested and challenged. Generally people join channels as visitors, some stay and become regulars then some of the regulars become channel Ops. The length of time for this transition from newbie to channel Op varies depending on the channel and how they recruit Ops.
When a person is a regular or new Op they are usually very interested and eager to learn new skills and knowledge. They are highly motivated and are prepared to put the time and effort into learning and practicing these newly learnt skills. In some ways this is the same type of thing that happens when you start a new job.
The time and effort are worth it because the person is getting something in return for their efforts. The contribution to the channel is normally also very positive. As time passes though the high levels of motivation and excitement the person initially had starts to decrease.
On a Help Channel such as ircnewbies Ops can only answer questions about “ping” or “actions” so many times before it becomes boring or unchallenging for them. When they reach this point they may start to stay away from the channel or IRC, which has the result of leaving the channel an Op short for a few days, weeks or maybe longer until the Op returns. This is a reason why ircnewbies should have enough Ops to cover such absences.
There is also the possibility that a bored or unchallenged Op might leave the channel for good or they might stay but start making negative contributions to the channel such as to pick on newbies or cause trouble among other channel Ops, generally interrupting normal channel Operations.
Some Ops start other channels and spend most of their time there thus not contributing to the channel as much as they used to. If we accept that the boredom of unchallenging repetitive tasks Ops need to do on a help channel like ircnewbies cause Ops to be absent or make negative contributions to the channel then steps could be taken to try and prevent this from happening.
The tasks and activities could be varied so at times Ops might be taking questions from newbies, other times they might be given time to read/study (mIRC/bots/scripts) to increase their knowledge, prepare a group or individual training sessions or maybe contribute/maintain a channel web site such as ircnewbies on Newnet does.
There could even be scope for Ops to have days off from the channel or days where they can come in and only Op if there is a shortage of live Ops or troublemakers to deal with.
Taking steps like this would allow people to relax more, refocus and renew themselves and their energies. It might allow them to get the initial motivation and enthusiasm back. It would reduce the chance that a good Op turns bad and in some cases may prevent Ops from leaving the channel.
An Op has usually spent a great deal of time learning new skills initially and it would be a shame to loose their contribution. Also recruiting and training a replacement can be time consuming and take a lot of effort.
NOT ENOUGH OPS
Presently in ircnewbies there is I believe around 10 to 15 Ops not counting the four (or is it two) bots. In the past the channel had anywhere from 20 to 40 Ops. This larger number of Ops in the past meant that people could join the channel at any time of the day from any time zone or country and find at least one and probably more live Ops that were able to answer questions and take care of any troublemakers. It wasn’t as common as it is now that the bots would be the only Ops in attendance to take care of the newbies and the channel.
Another point about Op numbers that needs consideration is allowing and planning for the planned or unexpected absences of channel Ops due to such things as family, work and other commitments. Ops may also be away due to computer breakdowns, holidays or time off the channel/IRC to recharge the batteries (see the Op motivation section).
There should also be enough Ops to cover periods of time when the channel bots are broken down, having maintenance carried out or for some other reason absent from the channel.
I would strongly suggest that ircnewbies looks into recruiting more Ops. The Ops they recruit shouldn’t only be from the United States or Canada, there should be Ops from other time zones and countries such as England or Australia to cover times when other countries might be sleeping or at work.
Care should also be taken in the types of Ops recruited. They shouldn’t just add people to make up the numbers they should recruit people that are interested in contributing positively to the channel and helping newbies.
They should recruit the first two types of Ops that I described earlier. I also again ask that there should be serious consideration of recruiting people that were previously Ops on the channel, especially those who were dumped in September ’98 or who have left since because they didn’t like the changes to the channel.
CONCLUSION
If the channel can develop a strong foundation made up of a principle based Mission Statement, principle based channel guidelines/rules and a reasonable fair Language Use policy involving everyone with a steak or interest in the channel in an open and honest manner. Plus Recruit Ops carefully, make sure there is a balance of the two recommended types of Ops, serious attempt to Re-recruit the channels most experienced Ops, Train Ops and Motivate Ops.
Then many of the problems, disputes and arguments that have plagued the channel in the past would be well on the way to being resolved. Not just for six or twelve months as the quick fixes of the past have done before but for good. It won’t be easy to accomplish this but nothing worthwhile is accomplished easily. If we could do that it would benefit everyone and the channel no end. Building the foundation though is only the beginning.
Once the foundation is completed and has been firmly put into place the rest of the framework needs to start being worked on. How the channel Operates on a day to day basis, how Ops interact with each other and channel regulars/visitors will be discussed in part three of this series IRCNEWBIES – Beyond the Foundations. As usual I would really like to get feedback whether you agree with me or not.
