It’s Not a WordPress Problem, It’s a People Problem

Tom McFarlin published a thoughtful piece on what he perceives to be the sad state of the WordPress community. Too many people are participating in behavior that is embarrassing from the outside looking in. It’s a long read, but it highlights the need for members of the WordPress community to stop and reflect on our actions.

The WordPress community is described by many as being open, friendly, with a willingness to help. It’s all of those things but in the past few months, discussions on hotly debated topics such as the Customizer have brought the worst out of people.

Criticism is one thing, personal attacks are another and simply unnecessary. Unfortunately, text is a difficult medium to decipher context. Emoticons and emoji help, but it doesn’t solve the problem. We as a community need to approach discussions with open minds. We can have different perspectives and viewpoints but we need to clearly communicate them without tearing the opposition down in the process. We must also learn to agree to disagree.

McFarlin’s post is an inward facing moment for the WordPress community. Is this how we want people on the outside to portray us? WordPress is software created by passionate people who work tirelessly to improve the web. Let’s all take a deep breath, collect ourselves, and do more to listen and understand each other.