As much as I agree that neutral marketing can help avoid time-wasting debate, I also don’t think we should “avoid” politics. SAFE is unavoidably political – the existence of our network says that we value free speech over government control, and that’s not a neutral position to take.
The SAFE community seems to believe that we cannot be silent in the face of government censorship; therefore (for that reason and more) we are building this network. I, personally, believe that philosophy extends even further. I think we also cannot be silent in the face of sexism and racism within our own walls. We are a mostly-male mostly-white crypto techie community – that’s a current fact. It makes me wonder what we can do as a community to open up and welcome other voices. We’re building a network for all voices, after all; it would be a shame for the network to only be built by a select few because we chose not to go after some low-hanging fruit and have difficult/rewarding conversations. If we are only ever neutral in the face of systemic problems, we’ll end up being just the same as all the other problematic tech communities out there.
Certainly, some of the general lack of diversity can be attributed to the “tech pipeline” but that’s not the whole story. If our community chooses to stand above the rest and welcome people that other communities fail to welcome, then they will come to us. The fact is, using a pinup girl to shout “we love women” has been shown in practice to accomplish the opposite. It is not effective, so we must find other strategies (if we care at all). But being neutral is not something we’ve ever done.
Well I assumed we realized that if the SAFE network takes off it will be used by groups promoting hatred and sharing pics/files much worse than a pretty lady with a maidsafe tattoo. Which is why I wasn’t expecting such a heated discussion here. I left the Netherlands 15 years ago, so I fortunately could follow the black Pete discussion from the side line. But its imo totally unrelated with this issue. Black Pete looks like a black slave, and I can 100% understand many people get upset about it. Same with the master/slave issue in Linux, these are heavy words to use and if they upset a large portion of the user’s, then change. Not that difficult. But the sticker we are having a discussion about represents a pretty and strong lady. Anyway arguments for and against have already been mentioned many times. I am going to try to stop reading this discussion.
I think the point of this discussion is not so much if the kind of pics like the lady with Maidsafe tattoo are OK in general.
The point is how that image speaks to females. Is it an inviting message or not? Is this spesific image, in this spesific context, for the purpose of inviting women here, good/working or not?
I also think that if the SAFE Network takes off there will probably be more discussion for what it is used, but it wasn’t clear that you meant that with ‘stickers’ in your post where I replied to.
My comparison of issues was probably a bit forced and not that relevant for this discussion.
Concerning the master/slave (and black- and whitelist) change in Linux and other software: I’ve read a lot of posts in the thread in tweakers.net I linked to. And some of the contra change arguments impressed me personally more (and most other participants it seems, including users who said that they have a darker skin tone) than the pros. It was more a discussion about the logic/principle used then practical implementation. Not wanting to redo this discussion here, only wanting to say: properly look at all ‘sides’ of a discussion is not a bad idea.
To finish, a clear ‘PC’-mistake from Youtube: WRONG MOVE Chess champ’s YouTube podcast taken down for referring to ‘black against white’.
I believe some conflict is due to a confusion of the context.
There’s tremendous care put into every detail of SAFE’s engineering, and its branding, if you’ll indulge the commercial term, should be held to the same high standard.
@dimitar has stated that the stickers are made for fun. Contrary to that intent, a sticker was used in an official capacity which should naturally adhere to a rigor different than what is fun for an individual.
The mixing of personal and official was a simple, innocent, and well-intentioned mistake.
Personally, I believe all matters important to people should be discussed, enthusiasm expressed, beliefs held.
Officially, all communiques should be laser-focused on faithful representation of SAFE proper.
IMHO if SAFE is to have personality as an aspect of its branding, I’d prefer @dirvine choose it to further express his artistic vision.
Friend, I think you’re confusing the MaidSafe company and the SAFE network. The company can be a soulless machine. The SAFE Network has a soul and that’s all of us…
The platypus is a very strong animal as a symbol of MadeSafe. It loves water like the Captain SAFE!
I don’t believe anybody is confusing this, the update is from Maidsafe.
That is certainly a matter of opinion.
The stickers are a fun way for those who wish to express themselves in that way.
I dont think anybody has a problem with personal use in personal posts.
Use in the update is clearly causing unnecessary consternation.
Just for clarity who is adding the stickers to the update. Are Maidsafe using the stickers when they post the update or is… someone adding it after?
I thought so, with all due respect I don’t think the community should be adding anything to the official updates from Maidsafe or anyone else’s posts for that matter.
Of course you are right, friend. In the future, I will discuss adding in advance (if there is anything that can be added, such as the covers I make for the updates)
Sidenote: Last night I was watching a TV show in U.S. on the Oxygen channel and saw a new 20-second commercial for Dial soap (“In Our Hands”) featuring images of Elvis, Muhammad Ali and . . . Rosie the Riveter.
@Dimitar, I just wanted to thank you for all your work on the artwork and community building. I hope you haven’t taken this thread as a personal attack in any way. We need good people like yourself here, with all the enthusiasm and energy you bring.
Thank you for your kind words, friend. I appreciate them and I don’t care what people think of me. I only hope to help even a little for the success of the network. That’s why my efforts are focused on that, not on being popular
Your efforts are huge @Dimitar you have put a huge amount of time and effort into growing this community.
I can’t help but feel frustrated that after all the upset the sticker caused (many questioning why Maidsafe would add potentially controversial stickers to official communications)
It was not clearly stated that the stickers are/were inserted by you.
To me, modification of others posts without clearly indicating so goes entirely against what this community represents.
is 
