Stop the Gatekeeping
Community, a group of people interested in a topic who share ideas and support each other. As a woodworker I am a part of the woodworking community. When meeting a fellow woodworker in person I instantly know what to talk about. I can ask questions about what they are working on, their past projects, and what they want to work on next. I’ve spent hours discussing different tools. I’ve learned new technics and taught others through conversations about wood.
I’m also part of online communities. Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and this blog make up a portion of where I spend my online woodworking community time, but as a beginner I started with Reddit. Reddit’s r/woodworking subreddit is an active online community where you can ask questions, see others work, and support your fellow woodworker. The best part about it is to see the varying skill levels displayed in posts and being able to ask questions and receive responses from veteran carpenters, cabinet makers, turners, really all types of woodworkers and if you are interested in learning more about the types of woodworkers check out my post on the topic.
I believe most people in the community are good. Regardless of their platform of choice, they want to see you succeed. But as with any community, there are gatekeepers who feel it is their duty to keep the community small. They believe you have to be an expert to be considered a woodworker. In reality anyone who makes something out of wood is a woodworker. I made a birdhouse with my dad when I was a kid, that’s when I became a woodworker. I didn’t consider myself a woodworker until I was able to make things on my own, even if they weren’t nice furniture pieces, it didn’t matter. I was working wood and learning.
And that’s the mentality we in a community should have. It doesn’t matter what the community is, we should support each other. As we contribute we grow and advance the community and the better we all become because of it. I’m not saying we shouldn’t criticize each other’s work. That is part of it. I want to hear when something I made isn’t as good as I think it is. But no one wants to hear malicious comments that do nothing but tear down the creator.
As I said, most people are good. Regardless, we all will unintentionally gatekeep. The best we can do is be mindful of what we are saying and the affect it will have.
How do you avoid inadvertent gatekeeping? Here are three things to keep in mind so you don’t become the gatekeeper.
Avoid absolutes, unless they are true.
Never ball up rags soaked with boiled-linseed oil and pack them into a garbage can (they will self ignite and burn your shop/house down). That is a useful and true absolute, and many newcomers to woodworking may not know it so it’s good to reiterate this type of safety information for the betterment of the community.
Do not use absolutes when they are your opinion.
I heard one the other day, never use wood glue to fill small cracks in a board. The reason was because the wood glue will interfere with the finish, but that was not true at all. It is true when wood glue is not properly cleaned off it will interfere with staining and finish, but when properly applied it’s fine, otherwise all panel glue ups would look terrible.
In my case, it was perfectly fine and I posted a rebuttal video showing that and wrote in where this technic works and where it wouldn’t to help those who did not know instead of straying everyone to believe using glue and sawdust to fill small cracks will ruin your project.
2. Be positive
You may not even mean to gatekeep, your comment was meant to be helpful, but it was negative and attacking the person. “Your idea is stupid, here’s what I do instead…” The intentions are right, share your experience to help educate the community, but there is a way to communicate without leading with an attack. Your method works in your use case, so instead of calling someone else’s idea stupid, call out what situation your method works well in. Tearing someone else’s idea down doesn’t make your idea better.
3. When online, think of how you’d react in person
If you were talking with a friend over lunch and they showed you what they thought was a great idea they had, how would you react? Would you blow up and yell at them how dumb they are? Probably not. So why say nasty things in all caps online? Just because you are typing out your message to a forum doesn’t mean there are people on the other side. Remember, even online you are having a conversation with a person, so treat it as such.
When I started getting serious about woodworking I soaked up information. I watched videos and browsed forums. I learned from real life wood workers sharing their experience on Reddit to give me the confidence to try myself. It’s tough investing money in tools and wood without knowing the basics of cabinetry. I couldn’t go be an apprentice for years, I had free time reading, listening, and practicing in my garage. The last thing I want to do is to prevent someone from joining the community. So before you post a demeaning comment, read it and think about this article.
All I ask is that you join the mission to stop the gatekeeping.