I have decided to stop updating my blog on LabSpaces. My future in blogging here has been under consideration for sometime. This decision was not made flippantly or hastily. The reasons are varied, but I am sharing a couple here. It is not my intention to malign Brian or anyone else here but rather to provide some food for thought for this and other communities.

As much as we may dislike them, the truth is there are double standards in the world. And for me, there is a standard of conduct for bloggers and another standard for community administrators. This double standard exists because the viewpoints expressed by a community administrator reflect not only on the individual but on the community as a whole. This requires an impartial, balanced, composed presentation. A community admin should respond to criticisms but needs to do so in a reasoned tone that does not denigrate contributors or other communities. As discussed in a thread on this site, there is 'guilt by association', where the opinions or approaches of a few voices are ascribed to the entire group. Likewise, when an opinion is expressed by a community admin--particularly in a space intended to share site news and updates with readers--it can easily be take as reflective of that community's opinion as a whole. I have been particularly concerned about the penchant of making sweeping negative (and sometimes inaccurate) comments about other communities, holding them up largely as examples of doing it wrong. In my mind, this is counterproductive to building a community, recruiting support, and engaging members and guests.

A community admin should have a vision for the community. However, as one establishes precedents and policies, there must be consistency (which, from my perspective, has been lost with selective moderation of "trolling" comments). If one desires to make changes, as will inevitably occur, the admin should be open and transparent about those changes (others have already touched on this). Never will everyone agree on policies and future directions, but when dissenting opinions, concerns, or criticisms arise from within or without, a community admin should listen, acknowledge, and respond in a level-headed manner. When replies become defensive and/or dismissive, this discourages commenters from providing further feedback or turns the discussion into a yelling match. Either way, the net result is the same: it shuts down the dialogue. I understand--it is difficult to not take criticisms personally, when you've devoted a great deal of time and effort to a project. But it's crucial for an admin to not respond as though it is a personal affront. Language and tone are ever important in establishing this sense and must be carefully considere

I wish Brian the best of luck as he continues to build the LabSpaces community. There is still talent here, and perhaps the departure of a few will allow some to shine more brightly. If you wandered over here by way of my WordPress blog, I hope you'll continue to return and check out their writing; I certainly will. It was a pleasure getting to interact with the bloggers and the LabSpaces community members. You can continue to follow my ramblings at There and (hopefully) back again. Hope to see you on the other site.