A collection of ethical guidelines for those who create tech content.
The purpose of the code is for the adopters to make a best effort attempt to achieve the guidelines outlined. The code comes in response to growing amounts of concerningly questionable content being produced under questionable motives 1. This code of ethics applies to content creators who have communities, and readers at the heart of their content, not endless self-interest or self-promotion.
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Make financial relationships clear — If affiliate links are used, go above and beyond government guidelines, make it as clear as possible any financial incentives or motivations that you have before referencing books, courses.
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Only recommend what you've used — Where possible, only reference resources which you've bought or used yourself. Avoid promoting or sharing resources of unknown quality. Ensure the owners of those resources adhere to ethical best practices.
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Prefer data-led information — Seek to answer questions with data. Some data is better than no data. Whenever you share your own opinion, seek to make it clear what is based on your experience, vs data. Share data sources.
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Be conscious of representation — When running events, consider inviting a range of folks from different backgrounds. Where possible, share opportunities to those who are new to the industry or under-represented.
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Provide free options — Where possible, grant an option to receive a product or service without paying, e.g. if someone is unemployed, offer a free option. Vet backgrounds ethically.
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Provide weighted pricing based on region - If possible, provide discounts to those in countries with weaker currencies, price based on local economies, not based solely on western economies.
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Bias to independent makers - If possible, bias recommendations towards independent folks. Venture backed companies have enough money already, let's support "the little guy" where possible.
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Create original content - Do not steal or plagiarise content. Credit any original authors where possible. If content is inspired by someone elses, make sufficient edits so as to make it unique.
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Avoid lazy "list" content - It is often not very helpful to provide endless "listicle" type lists of links to resources for the purpose of click-bait. There are some notable exceptions, such as "awesome" type lists, etc.
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State your authority - When talking about topics such as careers, where possible state your authority, e.g. companies you've worked for, for how long, and in which positions. Avoid giving advice where you have no practical experience.
Read the [origin twitter thread]
Message a maintainer to request maintainer/contributor rights, for changes / discussions, raise a PR.
To sign the code of ethics, raise a pull request.