On the perils of a backchannel

danah boyd gives her perspective on last week’s Web 2.0 Twitter back channel debacle.

So I have a favor to ask … I am going to be giving a bunch of public speaking performances at web conferences in the next couple of months: Supernova and Le Web in December, SXSW in March, WWW in April. I will do my darndest to give new, thought-provoking talks that will leave your brain buzzing. I will try really really hard to speak slowly. But in return, please come with some respect. Please treat me like a person, not an object. Come to talk with me, not about me. I’m ready and willing to listen, but I need you to be as well. And if you don’t want to listen, fine, don’t. But please don’t distract your neighbors with crude remarks. Let’s make public speaking and public listening an art form. Maybe that’s too much to ask for, but really, I need to feel like it’s worth it again.

One of the things that rankles me most is when people behave like assholes when it’s unwarranted. A big part of why I don’t do panels anymore is because I’m not okay with being ridiculed. I sincerely hope danah continues to speak at conferences and similar events. And I hope that people — and sadly, it’s usually men — stop being shameless dickwads.