Try to be appreciative of the work people put into hard and important things that you want to happen, or else eventually they'll burn out and won't work on them any more.
@cwebber what are good forms to show appreciation for this type of work? (i work in open source and think about this topic a lot, grateful for all opinions)
@alanapost well showing financial appreciation is nice, and etc etc
Though... in many ways the most important things you can do to be supportive are: a) actually express supportive words b) if you give criticism (which can be good, I'm not turning down criticism), be sure it's constructive... and I really mean it, actually try to be constructive... and even when you're criticizing, remember you're doing it *to be supportive*, not to make yourself look better
@alanapost I think one of the most toxic things on social media I see today is just how popular pulling yourself up by kicking others around is. Society reinforces the idea that if you're mean, you must be smart. But that's high school popularity contest bullshit.
I don't mean I'm immune to it.. But I also try to be skeptical of it when I see it, and try to tell myself to do better. How can I use my words to help rather than promote myself at others' expense?
@alanapost You may wonder why in asking "how can I be supportive" I focused so much on what is and isn't helpful criticism. And that's because the weight of one mean comment, psychologically, tends to be about the weight of one hundred nice comments in a person's mind. I know it is for me.
So say encouraging things about things you value, and *constructively* criticize where appropriate, but be mindful that you want to use your words to improve the world around you. IMO that's a huge help.
