This is the post about Bora. And the “community” that I thought was there. There’s been other stuff going on as well. But this one is about Bora.
I warn you all that this post is very hard for me. Normally what you see here, even the longer ranting or opinion pieces on academic life, even the big reviews on opponent process theory or long posts on a paper? Those are drafted and posted on the fly. I hammer them out in a single sitting, fast as you like, and throw them onto the internet. Maybe I’ll have a friend or two look over an opinion post. But usually not.
But this? This I went over, over and over, in my head. This I took notes for. I wrote an OUTLINE. It’s the only way I feel I can fit all the thoughts and feelings in, and even then, I don’t think that I’ll hit them all.
I don’t process on the internet. I don’t process on twitter or write posts trying to understand my feelings. I never have, I probably never will. Partially because, when I process, I do so in far more than 140 characters. Partially because, at this point, if I say something I regret… I say it to 23,000 people. And I shudder at the idea of saying something wrong, or something hurtful to someone else, to 23,000 people. And it’s partially because I just can’t react that fast. It means I’ve been quiet on a lot of issues, even though people have told me I need to say something. I do want to say something. I just want to make sure I’ve processed, and that it’s the thing I need to say. My silence does NOT mean I do not support the victims. Far from it.
It’s taken me a lot of time to process. In the first few days, I drank more than was good for me, I admit. I ran more than was good for me, too (which is very possible). More miles vanished under my heels in two days than I’d run in the previous 10 days combined. I would think I felt better, and come back to a fresh cut. I went whole days forgetting to eat. Not sleeping, waking up in a panic thinking it couldn’t be this way.
I know this seems like an over-reaction. But I felt like my world was falling down. Science blogging, BORA, who introduced me to science blogging, made me love science again. Bora, and his guidance, got me where I am. Entering into the world of science blogging showed me where my real talent lay. It gave me an entree into a new career that I am unbelievably excited about. I’m so glad to have found something that I’m good at, and that I love. For all this, I thanked Bora. I still do. Science blogging has become my world. It contains most of my friends. It’s no longer a world I can step away from and back into the lab. It’s my career now. My life.
But it turns out…Bora was not the man I thought he was. I trusted him implicitly. He told me to jump blogs, I would jump. He told me to apply for something, I would. Without hesitation. To me, he was a mentor. Almost paternal. He told me I was his oldest blogdaughter (from way back in ’08). He was never inappropriate to me.
But he was horrible, horrible, to others. And it was chilling, and nauseating, to read. I met Bora like all of them did. In a coffee shop. Alone. Nervous. I was no different.
And now I wonder if I was just being used for my sense of loyalty. I think it’s obvious to many people who know me. My college boss from the old coffee shop used to tell me I was like a big labrador retriever. I LIKE you! I like you all! I want you to like ME! I trust you implicitly and I think you’re GREAT. And if you knock me down, I’ll come bounding back, still thinking we’re buds. I’m very, very loyal to my friends. They make mistakes, and I know that. Often, I forgive them instantly.
But when those mistakes HURT people. Hurt many, many people. Hurt their own families, possibly beyond repair. Hurt careers. Use power to take what they want. Lie to me. Lie to everyone. Hurt MY FRIENDS.
Even the friendliest dog has a line.
I feel terrible for his victims. I feel terrible that my faith in Bora, in a way, kept him able to harass others. I admire their bravery, their grace. I am with them in every way.
People have been having the uncomfortable, difficult, painful conversations. I’ve been having a lot of them myself. I have found out that this thing I thought was my community…was not a community to everyone. I have found out that where I tried to be inclusive…people felt excluded. This was not the “community” of everyone at all. I have found that the ScienceOnline meeting, the place where I felt the safest I have ever felt outside my own house…people did not feel safe.
Bora is not the man I thought he was. And the science communication community was not the place I thought it was.
The whole week has been full of downs. But toward the end. I started to see #ripples of hope. Not just the hashtag (though that alone is brilliant), but from other bloggers, saying, we can, in the future, be better. We want to be better. We WILL be better. People taking decisive action.
And I have been incredibly impressed with many of my colleagues. Yes, people fought, and jumped to conclusions, and etc. But there have been no death threats or rape threats, and compared to some communities I’ve seen…well I’m impressed. I always thought I wrote with and worked with some amazingly good people. Now, I KNOW it.
And it gives me hope. It makes me believe we can do better. It has made me think HARD about how I behave at conferences. Am I friendly? Am I too friendly? Do I exclude people by accident, without knowing? Am I ever in power over someone…even when I may not realize it?
I may have to change how I operate. All of us may. Our rose colored glasses are gone. But I am willing to change. I think many people are. They are willing to admit that what we had…wasn’t as great as we thought. And willing to help build a new normal. I hope it’s teaching us to listen. I hope it’s teaching us to see. Even when we don’t like it.
I’m working with some people to help. I would like to help make Science Online the amazing experience I have had for as many people as I can. I would like to make it safe. I’ve got a few ideas, and I’ve seen some great ones around. But does anyone else have ideas? Twitter has been a free-flowing stream, and I don’t want things that I could help with to flow past. Please please put them in the comments. I’d love to keep track. I’d love to help build a new, better, more trustworthy normal.
ADDENDUM: ScienceOnline is very committed to making stuff better. Karyn is collected responses. So please if you have ideas, send her a summary (not a link or a storify or a tweet, a summary) to karyn@scienceonline.com. Together we can make this better.
