SandBox

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#title Anonymity & Privacy = Community Knowledge Base =
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''From The Art Of Community by O'Reilly
(http://www.artofcommunityonline.org) by Jono Bacon''
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== Anonymity and Privacy == Welcome to the community knowledge base!
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The act of measuring community is an exercise in gathering information about other people and drawing conclusions. Some of this data will be generic to the community as a whole (such as statistics about mailing lists or forums) and some will be specific to an individual (such as a response to a survey). When data can be directly linked to an individual, the subject of
anonymity and privacy steps into view. Although at first these two topics may seem like they could potentially cause problems if you put your foot down wrong, their guidelines are simple. Let’s talk about them both now.		 This page is here to provide an index of documents and articles that can help you build strong, vibrant communities. It is encouraged that the community create new articles to help expand and grow our existing documentation to help create even better teams. If we all work together to expand this documentation, we can create a pretty compelling resource.
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=== Anonymity === If you want to add a document to the Knowledge Base, see [[BuildingCommunity/AddingCommunityGuide|this page]].
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Anonymity is a valuable tool when gathering feedback, particularly around contentious topics. If you are gathering feedback about a particular governance body in your community, many people may feel uncomfortable with associating their views with their identity. For this reason, anonymous feedback can be a useful option. There is a dark side to anonymity, though. The Internet has long proved that when identity can be hidden or obscured, all manner of whack jobs and nutcases want to be your friends or, rather, your enemies. In the world of the Internet, the quote from the 1988 movie The Dead Pool really resonates: “Opinions are like 455|-|0L35, Everybody’s got one and everyone thinks everyone else’s stinks.” If you open an avenue for people to share their views online...expect anything and everything. == Guides / HOWTOs ==
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Anonymity creates two major risks. First, when identity is hidden, some jump at the opportunity to be rude, arrogant, and sometimes outright offensive. These people are often referred to as trolls in online communities. The second, subtler problem is that anonymity will sometimes cause people to overstate their concern with an issue: they will often dial up the
annoyance factor to 11. This means that you get a misrepresented perspective, and this can skew your aim of getting genuinely representative views from the community. 		This section contains guides and HOWTOs for doing things effectively in the Ubuntu community, from setting up resources to resolving issues and being productive.
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With this we have a difficult balance: there is value in anonymous feedback, but there is a significant risk of trolling and overstated unrepresentative perspectives. How do we find a balance? A simple solution is to welcome anonymous data, but be cognizant of what it could represent. Therefore, when conducting your research, you should encourage a combination of feedback with identity attached in addition to anonymous feedback. Consider the example of running a survey to assess the quality of experience of a contributor joining your community. I would recommend that you have two identical surveys: one is directed to the 10 most recent people who have joined your community, and the other open to anyone. When evaluating the results, treat the survey that you directed to particular people as the most valuable input, but still consider highly the results of your other survey. Combining the results of both surveys is likely to produce a balanced perspective. === Team Processes ===
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Before we move on, I just want to dispel the myth of anonymity on the Internet. This all boils down to a simple rule: Things that all teams should be doing.
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 ''No one is anonymous on the Internet. No one. (Yes, that includes you super-elite hacker types, too.)''  * [[BuildingCommunity/TeamReporting|Team reporting]] - reporting to the wider project what your team is working on
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In the online world it’s tempting to believe that you are anonymous, but so-called “anonymity” is merely a carefully constructed set of abstractions that ultimately puts most people off trying to discover your identity. These barriers always
have a trail, though, and if someone tries hard enough, he could break down the barriers of anonymity. The value and risk of anonymity is hugely dependent on what kind of community you are building. If you are building a small local knitting community to meet, share patterns, and enjoy each other’s company, it is unlikely that anyone is going to work too hard to break anonymity. If you are involved in a technical community based around security and hacking, some will see your anonymity as a challenge. In more technical communities, as well as communities dealing with sensitive issues in politics or health, you may have a harder time soliciting anonymous feedback for fear of others finding out.		 === Team Resources ===
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=== Privacy ===

The middle ground between anonymity and full public disclosure is feedback provided with an identity under the proviso that it is kept private. Maintaining this level of privacy is an important consideration when handling anyone’s information, and particularly important when handling sensitive information around conflict. Privacy is sacred. It should never be comprised, and when you engage with someone who shares private information, you become responsible for that information. As such, you should ensure that you have a suitable means of securing that privacy. This does not need to include
super-technical encrypted emails and retina scans to get into your laptop, but simple processes that will ensure that your respondents have confidence in you keeping their information to yourself.

The most fundamental underlying step here is that people trust you. It doesn’t matter what procedures you put in place to stop leaks; if people don’t trust you as a warm body, they will not entrust their thoughts to you. As we discussed earlier, you should always build a sense of trust and confidence in your community. You should then build on this trust with methods of
gathering feedback that are secure. As an example, I was once performing an assessment of a governance body and wanted to
gather feedback from each of the members on the body. I was keen for this feedback to be brutally blunt and honest, and to do this I made a few conscious decisions:

 * To ensure privacy, I did not use a public resource such as a wiki or forum to ask for the feedback, but instead requested it to my private email address. This meant that all submissions came directly to me.
 * I was explicit in the email that the information provided should be frank and honest and that the answers would be subject to absolute privacy. I made it clear that the feedback would not be shared either publicly, with the other members, or with other third parties.
 * I sent the email to private email addresses, not an email address associated with the commercial sponsor. This would remove any conspiracy-theory worries of someone snooping on email on a mail server (which would be inconceivable in a practical sense, but I just wanted to calm any possible worries).
 * I sent the questions individually to each member, as opposed to using either CC or BCC to send them. This ensured there would be no accidental Reply-All gaffe in which one member’s feedback would go out to the other members.

Each of these steps was subtle but important: they helped to secure confidence in the respondents so they could provide me with the honesty of feedback that I required. It worked, and I got some excellent feedback in that assessment. The last bullet on the previous list was all about reducing the possibility of a gaffe. These accidents and mistakes have happened to us all: accidental emails, phone calls, and messages sent to the wrong people with sometimes embarrassing consequences. These gaffes are bad enough in nonsensitive situations, but when we are dealing with private data, they can be very serious. As such, you need to ensure you are aware of possible gaffes and try at all costs to avoid them.		  * [[BuildingCommunity/CreatingWikiHomepage|Creating your team wiki homepage]] - how to create a homepage for your team on the Ubuntu wiki
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As a starting point, here is a gallery of what not to do:  * [[BuildingCommunity/SampleTeam|Sample Team Wiki Site]] - see this collection of suggested wiki pages for a sample team and use them as the basis for your own team.
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'''''Email''''' ==== General Information ====
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In an email discussion about private topics, always check who is receiving the email. This is particularly risky these days with auto-completion. Believe me, I speak from experience.... General information and details about the LoCo project.
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'''''Mailing lists'''''  * LoCoTeams - the main homepage of the LoCo project.
 * [[LoCoFAQ]] - one FAQ to rule them all! A big list of LoCo related questions.
 * LoCoTeamsList - the list of approved and new teams.
 * LoCoTeamContacts - how to contact the project leaders.
 * LoCoTeamMeeting - details of the fortnightly LoCo team meetings held on IRC.
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Always double-check that when having a private conversation, someone hasn’t included a mailing list address. This happens a lot more often than you would imagine. ==== Joining a Team ====
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'''''Blogging''''' Details about joining teams.
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When you hear that exciting piece of news that someone tells you, ask first if you can blog it. Many have fallen foul of blogging private information. That never ends well.  * LoCoTeamJoining - how to join your local LoCo team.
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'''''Phone calls''''' ==== Running a Team ====
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When discussing private topics, check who is around you. There may well be members of your community you don’t know who are listening to every word. Help and resources for running a team.
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'''''Online chat networks'''''  * LoCoTeamHowto - our main guide to starting a LoCo team.
 * LoCoTeamRegions - a guide to picking how much of a region your LoCo team covers
 * LoCoGettingApproved - how to get your team approved.
 * LoCoExampleApplication - an example approval application.
 * LoCoGettingCds - how to get free Ubuntu CDs.
 * LoCoResolvingProblems - details on resolving problems and conflict in your team.
 * LoCoWorkingWithOtherGroups - how to best work with other local groups such as Linux User Groups.
 * LoCoTeamLeader - thoughts on being an effective leader.
 * LoCoTeamDealingWithMoney - best practices for dealing with money
 * LoCoTeamSpeakers - a list of those who are available to speak at conferences about Ubuntu.
 * LoCoWorkingWithOtherGroups - how to further promote Ubuntu while helping your area LUGs
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Before you talk to “jon_c” online about some private topics, just double-check it is not “jon_o” or “ron_c”. That could get you in quite a pickle. With a careful consideration of the expectations and risks surrounding privacy, it is likely that you can gather your feedback with no ill consequences. The key thing here is to think before you do. Checking that list of email addresses once more may take 10 seconds, but could prevent years of potential embarrassment. ==== LoCo Resources and Facilities ====
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=== Moving On (Summary) === Guides and documentation about setting up the various resources and facilities your LoCo team may want to use.
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In this chapter we have explored many of the methods in which we can open up our community to take a peek inside. We have discussed the opportunities and pitfalls associated with measuring community, and this chapter should have provided you with a firm foundation in which to gather data that can help you optimize your community and make it more efficient, pleasurable, and productive. Now we are going to move on to discuss one of the most important elements of community, particularly in large and growing communities: governance.  * LoCoCreatingWebsite - how to create a website, a map of your area in which users can add themselves, a planet blog aggregator, and details about free hosting options.
 * LoCoCreatingForum - how do you set up a forum for your team?
 * LoCoDocsDay - how to get involved in our regular documentation days.
 * LoCoBot - details about using our IRC bots for logging and other facilities.
 * LoCoTeamDocsToDo - Things for us to complete
 * LoCoTemplates - templates for your LoCo sites.

==== LoCo Activities ====

Guides about different types of work your team can do.

 * LoCoActivism - How-to guide for digital freedom activism
 * UbuntuAtConferences - how to get a "conference pack" from Canonical
 * LoCoRunningInstallfests - a guide to running a local Installfest event.
 * LoCoRunningReleaseParty - a guide to running a Release Party event.
 * LoCoTeamEducation - how to advocate Ubuntu / Kubuntu / Edubuntu to educational users and organisations.
 * LoCoComputerFairHowto - organising a computer fair booth
 * '''Jams!''' - Jams are get-togethers of Ubuntu activists who work on Ubuntu directly to make it better. Useful information and materials about running '''[[RunningBugJam|Bug Jams]]''' and '''[[MOTU/RunningPackagingJam|Packaging Jams]]'''.

==== Mailing Lists ====

 * loco-contacts - the main mailing list for the project is loco-contacts. You can join it by visiting https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/loco-contacts
 * Team Mailing Lists - see https://lists.ubuntu.com for details of the team mailing lists.

==== IRC Channels ====

 * #ubuntu-locoteams - the main IRC channel for the LoCo project.


=== Events ===

 * [[BuildingCommunity/TeamIrcSessions|Running Team IRC Sessions]] - how to run discussion, training, show and tell or other team related sessions via IRC
 * [[BuildingCommunity/BookingUbuntuMeetingChannel|Booking #ubuntu-meeting]] - how to book the #ubuntu-meeting IRC channel
 * [[BuildingCommunity/RunningReleaseParty|Running a Release Party]] - how to organise and run an Ubuntu Release Party.
 * [[BuildingCommunity/RunningCommunityStands|Running community Ubuntu stands at shows/conferences]] - a guide to running an exciting, dynamic, well staffed stand at a conference
 * [[BuildingCommunity/RunningAnUbucon|Running an Ubucon]] - a guide to running a community-driven Ubucon event
 * [[BuildingCommunity/EventsGettingOrganised|Getting Organised]] - Getting started with organising your event
 * [[BuildingCommunity/OrganisingPhysicalEvents|Organising Physical Events]] - How to organise your real-life physical event
 * [[BuildingCommunity/EventsGettingSponsorship|Getting Sponsorship]] - Use the best available methods to secure sponsorship for your event
 * [[BuildingCommunity/OrganisingOnlineEvents|Organising Online Events]] - Plan and organise your on-line event

=== Supporting Workflow with Tools ===

 * [[BuildingCommunity/UnderstandingWorkflow|Understanding Your Workflow]] - Learn how to select the right tools for the right job!
 * [[BuildingCommunity/BuildingGreatInfrastructure| Building Great Infrastructure]] - Points to ponder when setting up your teams' or projects' tools.
 * [[BuildingCommunity/BuildingAndMaintainingTransparency|Building And Maintaining Transparency]] Transparency leads to stronger communities.
 * [[BuildingCommunity/RegularWorkflowAssessment|Regular Workflow Assessment]] Regular assessments will refine your team or project.

=== Building Buzz ===

 * [[BuildingCommunity/MindShare|Mind Share]] - Perception, change of attitudes, based on common goals and beliefs.
 * [[BuildingCommunity/BuildingBlocksOfBuzz|The Building Blocks of Buzz]] - Building excitement, and Motivate others.
 * [[BuildingCommunity/SettingUpYourBase|Setting Up Your Base]] - Specific examples on setting up your environment for buzz.
 * [[BuildingCommunity/TheBuzzCycle|The Buzz Cycle]] - How to evaluate your affectiveness with buzz.
 * [[BuildingCommunity/BuzzTargets| Buzz Targets]] - Real World Examples of Buzz Targeting done right.
 * [[BuildingCommunity/BuildingAlliances| Building Alliances]] - Harvesting your relationships, can help you spread your buzz.
 * [[BuildingCommunity/BuildingBuzzSummary| Building Buzz - Summary]] - Summary of the previous links content.
 * [[BuildingCommunity/BuildingBuzz|Start Building Your Team's Buzz]] - List of places and ideas where you can start applying what you've learned.

=== Measuring Community ===

 * [[BuildingCommunity/MeasuringCommunity|Measuring Community]] -
 * [[BuildingCommunity/FoundationsOfFeedback|Foundations of Feedback]] -
 * [[BuildingCommunity/HooksAndData|Hooks and Data]] -
 * [[BuildingCommunity/AnonymityAndPrivacy| Anonymity & Privacy]] -

=== Disputes and Conflict ===

 * [[BuildingCommunity/DealingWithConflict|Dealing With Conflict]] - how to deal with conflict in your team
 * [[BuildingCommunity/CoCAndDisputes|The role of the Code Of Conduct in Disputes]] - some notes about where the Code Of Conduct plays a part in dispute and conflict resolution
 * [[BuildingCommunity/TakingConflictToTheCommunityCouncil|Taking Conflict To The Community Council]] - a guide to what to do when taking conflict issues to the community council
 * [[BuildingCommunity/Conflict/NatureofBeast]] - The nature of conflict
 * [[BuildingCommunity/Conflict/CalmBeforeStorm]] - Signs of impending conflict, what to look out for
 * [[BuildingCommunity/Conflict/Resolution]] - How to resolve issues of conflict

=== Governance ===

 * [[BuildingCommunity/TheCaseForGovernance]] - When, why and how your community needs formalized governance
 * [[BuildingCommunity/LearningFromTheLeaders]] - Learn from existing successful governance structures
 * [[BuildingCommunity/SettingUpACommunityCouncil]] - How to bootstrap your community governance structure
 * [[BuildingCommunity/ExpandingGovernance]] - When and how to expand your governance structure
 * [[BuildingCommunity/UbuntuGovernanceLinks]] - Links to further reading on how Ubuntu is governed

=== Burnout ===

 * [[BuildingCommunity/Burnout]] - How to avoid and handle burnout

== Articles, Blog Entries and Multimedia ==

Blog entries and articles:

 * [[http://www.jonobacon.org/?p=868|Misinformation: The Enemy Of Community]] by Jono Bacon
 * [[http://www.jonobacon.org/?p=751|Transparency in process]] by Jono Bacon
 * [[http://www.oreillynet.com/onlamp/blog/2006/04/the_increasing_importance_of_c.html|The Increasing Importance of Community]] by Jono Bacon
 * [[http://www.oreillynet.com/onlamp/blog/2005/09/hindsight_is_always_2020.html|Hindsight is Always 20/20]] by Jono Bacon
 * [[http://www.oreillynet.com/onlamp/blog/2004/04/advocating_honesty.html|Advocating honesty]] by Jono Bacon
 * [[http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/2006/12/how_to_build_a_.html|How To Build a Community: Part 1]] by Kathy Sierra

Multimedia:

 * [[http://www.jonobacon.org/?p=878|How To Herd Cats And Influence People]] by Jono Bacon

----
[[CategoryBuildingCommunity]]

Community Knowledge Base

Welcome to the community knowledge base!

This page is here to provide an index of documents and articles that can help you build strong, vibrant communities. It is encouraged that the community create new articles to help expand and grow our existing documentation to help create even better teams. If we all work together to expand this documentation, we can create a pretty compelling resource.

If you want to add a document to the Knowledge Base, see this page.

Guides / HOWTOs

This section contains guides and HOWTOs for doing things effectively in the Ubuntu community, from setting up resources to resolving issues and being productive.

Team Processes

Things that all teams should be doing.

  • Team reporting - reporting to the wider project what your team is working on

Team Resources

General Information

General information and details about the LoCo project.

Joining a Team

Details about joining teams.

Running a Team

Help and resources for running a team.

LoCo Resources and Facilities

Guides and documentation about setting up the various resources and facilities your LoCo team may want to use.

  • LoCoCreatingWebsite - how to create a website, a map of your area in which users can add themselves, a planet blog aggregator, and details about free hosting options.

  • LoCoCreatingForum - how do you set up a forum for your team?

  • LoCoDocsDay - how to get involved in our regular documentation days.

  • LoCoBot - details about using our IRC bots for logging and other facilities.

  • LoCoTeamDocsToDo - Things for us to complete

  • LoCoTemplates - templates for your LoCo sites.

LoCo Activities

Guides about different types of work your team can do.

Mailing Lists

IRC Channels

  • #ubuntu-locoteams - the main IRC channel for the LoCo project.

Events

Supporting Workflow with Tools

Building Buzz

Measuring Community

Disputes and Conflict

Governance

Burnout

Articles, Blog Entries and Multimedia

Blog entries and articles:

Multimedia:

CategoryBuildingCommunity

itnet7/SandBox (last edited 2017-09-19 03:15:55 by itnet7)