Foundations of Amateur Radio

Gate-keeping, special people and bullies.

One of the recurring topics in my experience of amateur radio is that associated with people who use the hobby as an excuse to sow discontent. That comes in many forms, at the extreme end it's harassment, but it also comes in the form of gatekeepers and nay-sayers.

It's important to realise that while this behaviour is not limited to amateur radio, we seem to have more than our fair share of the negative element.

When you come into this community, all bright-eyed, excited, willing to learn, you might be astonished just how negative some community members can be. You might pick up a special friend who follows you around, either on-air, or on-line, rarely in real life, who makes it their mission to make your life a misery.

This behaviour manifests itself with statements about the unsuitability of your license, your equipment, your gender, your knowledge, your examination process, your chosen frequency, your selected mode, anything that's not to the liking of whomever challenged your existence.

This kind of behaviour is known as gate-keeping and in amateur radio it's rife. People with a chip on their shoulder, the size of Montana, with nothing better to do than berate new amateurs, tell them off, preferably as a means to explain to them why they should leave the hobby or are not worthy of being considered an amateur.

In addition to these delightful utterances, I regularly see sexist, racist and other content shared among our community that would not be condoned in the workplace, let alone in the family home.

Why do we as a community tolerate this extreme behaviour when in the rest of our lives this is strongly discouraged and can lead to severe consequences such as dismissal and legal proceedings?

In civil discourse we treat each other with respect and that should be there regardless of the environment, be it professional, the home, or in this case a hobby.

It's been said that for some people in amateur radio, their biggest life achievement was the gaining of their amateur license. The acronym FIGJAM comes to mind to describe some of those entitlement rich individuals.

So what do you do when you are confronted with a repeater troll, or told that you don't measure up because you don't know Morse, or some other denigrating statement?

Previously I would have advocated that you ignore it and move on. Often times you've done nothing wrong and there's nothing to be gained from arguing the point.

There's only one problem with that. There is no cost to the bully, let's face it, we're talking about bullies, minor or major, still a bully.

No cost means no disincentive, which means that the behaviour continues until the bully gets bored. Only problem is that you'll need to weather the storm while that happens. Not good for you, your mental health or the mental health of the people around you. That's not a good balance.

As a community it's our job, that is, my job and your job to call out this behaviour and to expose it for what it is, abhorrent, elitist, sexist, racist, gate-keeping. I've been told that this isn't real and that I should leave this alone and to that I say: No. This is my hobby too and I get to have a say about what kind of hobby community I'd like to be part of.

So, instead I think we as a community need to do something more active. I think we, that is, you and I, need to call out a bully when we encounter one. It does't have to be confrontational, however satisfying that might be, but it needs to draw a line in the sand.

For example, you might say something like this:

Thank you for your comment. I don't believe that it's in the spirit of amateur radio. Please stop.

It's not going to end the behaviour of the bully, but it does achieve some other things. If this is on-line, it will flag for future readers that something is amiss and on-air it will highlight to fellow frequency users that you're not OK with what's going on.

It does some other things as well. For you it will give you a sense of ownership of what's going on around you, rather than being pushed into the role of victim. It will also give the bully a statement that's neutral whilst indicating that their behaviour is unacceptable.

I think that the only way out of the keyboard warrior and repeater-troll hell we find ourselves in is to do something different, to make noise, to shine a light and to discourage bad behaviour.

One thing I can say from personal observation is that what we as a community have done to date isn't working. It's getting worse. We're alienating good people who want to make a contribution and we're doing nothing to discourage those who are sure of their position and are unapologetic about how they express that superiority.

Step up. Call it out.

Thank you for your comment. I don't believe that it's in the spirit of amateur radio. Please stop.

I'm Onno VK6FLAB