Civilination

Taking a stand against online harassment, character assassination and violence

Formula 1 Blog Shows how Motor Sports Fans Can Come Together to Share Their Passion in a Fun and Civil Way

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Billing itself “the online Journal of F1 opinion,” Formula1blog brings together Formula 1 fans from around the globe to share their passion about the sport in an intelligent, mature and civil way. Created in 2005, it calls itself  “something different and fresh, not just rag chewing with a bunch of tobacco-spitting goof balls who want to pretend to appear as reputable F1 news sites” and certainly not a site for “forum troll’s, flamers and disenchanted malcontents.” Sounds great, doesn’t it? Read the Q&A with F1B founder Todd McCandless below and find out why this approach has been so successful.

CiviliNation: Tell us about formula1 blog.

Todd McCandless: Formula1blog.com started in 2005 with a mission to become the Journal of F1 Opinion. We enjoy nearly 40,000 downloads of our weekly podcasts per month (which is the highest and most rated F1 podcast on iTunes) and millions of pageview per year.

CiviliNation: On your website it says “When I started Formula1blog.com back in 2005, I did so because I could not find a safe harbor for new and veteran Formula One fans to discuss their beloved sport without trolls, bullies and flamers.” What kinds of problems did you see?

Todd McCandless: It was a common theme, to be honest. Whether it was blogs, forums or websites, the engagement was often festering with trolls, vulgarity, vitriol and heavy handed screeds—not true engagement and sharing of opinion. I found it very odd that with the evolution of the Web, people seemed to be bereft of basic courtesy and the ability to engage in polite digital conversation even if that discourse was at odds with each other. It was as if everyone had become 15-years-old and discovered that the least common denominator was an immediate personal attack to marginalize an opinion that differed from his or hers. I’ve often called this the bravery of being out of range, but it is something more, something slightly insidious to be honest.

One of the keys to new Formula One racing fans is finding a place where they can ask questions, no matter how rudimentary, and feel safe for doing so. Before I started F1B, I would post comments on other sites, and the trolls would berate anyone with a low post or comment count. Forums seemed to breed pride over length of membership and post or comment count. A person who had 12,000 comments in a forum would often tell a new member that they were idiots and knew nothing because of their low post count. I found that astounding as I have been watching the sport since 1972 and most of these people weren’t alive then. Forum software breeds this pride and arrogance. I even had a moderator accuse me of being a redundant news site, which, of course, couldn’t be farther from the truth, and this was a moderator on a forum for a major American broadcast network.

I discovered that true engagement was never going to happen in places where the members didn’t share a commonality and respect for each other, so I created F1B with that intent.

CiviliNation: On your Code of Conduct page it says that there is “one simple rule at F1B: Decorum and Civility!” How do you define decorum and civility?

Todd McCandless: To us, Decorum & Civility is the one rule we do have at F1B. It means that we encourage everyone to engage and share their opinion but to do so with decorum and civility… which means no personal attacks. You don’t agree with someone? Fine, simply say “I don’t agree with that and here is why”. No personal attacks. An opinion is simply an opinion but a person is much more. We feel that our community deserves more from engagement and we work very hard to deliver a safe harbor for all of them.

CiviliNation: Have there been any incidences where readers or community members violated the rules? How did you manage that?

Todd McCandless: I have only had to ban one person since 2005, but I would be remiss in not admitting that the occasional outburst doesn’t happen. What we find is that it usually comes from a person who saw a Tweet or Facebook post and then happens to click through to the site. They are not regulars at F1B and it immediately shows. The prevailing notion—and this is why I love the work your organization is doing—is that you can drift from site to site and forum to forum and the conventional culture is to offer a drive-by commentary ripe with foul language and vitriol. This has, sadly, become perfectly acceptable and the norm for many. Most people wouldn’t walk into a coffee shop, hear a person talking and walk up to that individual and say, “you’re a @&$#%& idiot… you don’t know #$%&$ about that!” So why do you do it online?

When a person does discover F1B and lobs a foul grenade in the discussion, our members are the first to respond and usually say something like, “Dude… decorum and civility, we don’t stand for personal attacks at F1B and here is a link to our code of conduct.” I’ve had to do very little policing of the site because we have such a great community that takes care of it themselves.

When someone does continue, I will weigh in and politely explain that there are lots of places that this type of discourse is allowed and even encouraged, and we would recommend visiting those sites instead. We really do appreciate them taking time to share their opinion and would love to have them as a part of our community, but they must follow our one, simple rule… decorum and civility, which means no personal attacks.

CiviliNation: You’ve had great success in creating a fun and engaged community. Given this success, why do you think that other communities don’t follow suit?

Todd McCandless: I honestly wish I knew the answer to that question. Why would a community that I frequented back in 2004 and 2005 allow the language, comments and personal attacks? Why do they allow it today? I thought, at first, it was just an issue of youth, and that can still be part of the equation, but I’ve seen some very harsh words from adults, and it really is disheartening. The impersonal nature of the Internet creates and isolation that has apparently has never been properly defined.  When people are giving their opinion they do it with bravado and can troll those who disagree with immunity. Perhaps, and just perhaps, F1B has discovered that when a people want something, they will change their tune. Being served at a restaurant places you in a very different mindset than being the one serving at the restaurant. I will always try to exhibit servant leadership, and maybe it is this that sets F1B apart.

CiviliNation: What recommendations would you give other sites that are interested in growing their communities and at the same time supporting a positive online culture?

Todd McCandless: I would say ignore the lack of traffic and get back to building a community that you really want. Define the code of ethics for the site, and that becomes the grand equalizer that all of you follow. Sure you can allow trolls and drive-by shooters, and the increase in traffic is nice, but I think it is better to create a safe harbor for your members at the expense of traffic. Lead by example even when trolls do arrive at your site. I’ve been personally attacked at F1B but try to remain calm, keep the temperature cool and continually ask them to find a much better website that encourages their method of discourse. Lastly, never take your community for granted, and always remind them how honored you are that they are the reason the site exists and that they are the creators of the culture by which all of you participate.  Decorum & Civility… no personal attacks!

 

What Kind of Bystander Are You Going to Be?

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In a guest post on Geoff Livingston’s blog, CiviliNation founder Andrea Weckerle asks the important question What Kind of Bystander Are You Going to Be?

She writes, “the one group whose importance and influence we tend to overlook is that of bystanders. It’s this group that has enormous power over the direction that online disputes can take. Bystanders can serve as the voice of reason… or be the catalysts for mob-like behavior.”

Read the full post here.

 

 

Mark Schaefer Talks About “Digital Distance” and How It Contributes to Bad Behavior Online

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Mark Schaefer is an internationally-recognized business and marketing professional with 30+ years experience. He is the author of the bestsellers The Tao of Twitter and Return on Influence, which was named a “Top Academic Titles” of the year by the American Library Association.

Mark shares his thoughts about the ways in which “digital distance”creates a barrier between us and others online, and asks us to see the real person behind the avatar. Watch the video to hear what else he says about how we can create a more civil web!

 

Sarah Evans Talks About Online Civility

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Sarah Evans runs Sevans Strategy, a public relations and new media consultancy, and is the creator of #journchat, a weekly conversation between journalists, bloggers and PR professionals. Not surprisingly, she’s a prolific tweeter at @prsarahevans with an impressive following and is listed among Vanity Fair’s America’s Tweethearts.

Sarah also cares a great deal about online civility. She says, “I’m a huge advocate of modeling the behaviors I want to see in others.” Hear what else she says about how to make the online environment a more civil place!

 

“SUBMIT” Movie – #nobystanders

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“Adults and kids underestimate the severity of cyberbullying and the impact it can have. Cyberbullying is 24 x 7 x 365 and spreads rapidly across the Internet,” says the website for the movie SUBMIT: The Documentary, whose tagline is, “The Way We Hurt Each Other Has Evolved.”

Produced by Les Ottolenghi and Ashley Reid of PLAT4M STUDIOS LLC and directed by Muta’Ali Muhammad, SUBMIT has been accepted into the 2013 Atlanta Film Fest and the 2013 Buffalo Niagara Film Fest. The Producer Cut runs just shy of one hour.

The movie tells the stories of those who have been directly affected by cyberbullying. It also shares the heartbreaking agony of parents whose children committed suicide because they were cyberbullied. Seeing their still-raw pain touches on one’s deepest fear of losing one’s own child to this terrible monster.

As the movie says, “While the traditional bully can cause physical and emotional pain to the victim, the cyberbully has more than a fist to attack with. Online the cyberbully can publish degrading messages about the victim, spread digitally altered photos, impersonate their victim, and even assume the victim’s identity online and affect their relationships with others. Even though the cyberbully is at a distance from their victim and unable to inflict physical pain, the arsenal of the cyberbully is vast and ever growing.”

But it doesn’t just feature the victims and their families, it also shares the thoughts and insights of an impressive range of experts.

They explain that bystanders play a particularly important role in cyberbullying situations. That’s because bystanders either do nothing when children and teenagers are bullied online, or they join in. Bystanders often become bullies themselves by virtue of passing along messages or images, or by adding their own to an already inflammatory situation.

Not surprisingly, the experts also point out that anonymity and pseudonymity are contributing factors because they enable kids to act badly without accountability.

The dissemination of personal photos is another particularly disturbing variety of cyberbullying. According to one of the experts, 40% of the youngsters admit sharing nude or semi-nude pictures with people the images aren’t intended for, underscoring the notion that even if the original sender thinks their picture will remain private, reality says otherwise.

The movie explains that the legal system can’t keep pace with what’s happening online. According to one attorney interviewed, prosecutors and the police simply can’t keep up due to the sheer volume of these types of cases. And when parents of victims use civil means instead of going the criminal route, even if they’re lucky enough to win a judgment, when they try to collect, the defendant may attempt to avoid paying by filing bankruptcy, which often erases a civil judgment.

The overall problem is described this way: “We’ve got one big mess of roadblocks where both the child and the parent become victimized and re-victimized. It’s becoming more and more apparent that this problem is evolving beyond our conventional means of containment. Schools, social sites, laws, law enforcement and to some extent even the parents, don’t seem to be the answer. No conventional answers. Maybe it’s time to try something unconventional.”

The movie suggests that education is the answer to stopping the vicious problem of cyberbullying. Education and awareness programs can teach bystanders to step in to help stop the attacks. They can also teach children and teens about empathy so they’ll be less likely to mistreat others – whether through cyberbullying or other means.

Go to the website and request a screening package (the basic package is free). It’s well worth your time.


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