NDC COMMUNITY PULSE
February 22, 2023
Dear Community,
Every Wednesday I provide a weekly snapshot about what we are hearing and learning in the GWG (Governance Working Group) about the NEAR Digital Collective (NDC) for the entire community.
Snapshot of how to learn more and get involved:
Tuesday: Community Call to Learn What’s Happening in the NDC
Wednesday: This Community Pulse goes live
Thursday: Live Polls from the GWG go live
Friday: Matt’s Friday Reflections goes live
THIS WEEK
1. HEY, WHO ARE YOU AND WHY SHOULD WE CARE?
This is a totally fair question for the grassroots-led GWG. So, here is the full skinny on what this group does - Soup to Nuts. We also started a thread Who I am and What I do in the GWG on the forum so you can get to know us, transparently. We are a grassroots-led movement by the community to Decentralize NEAR.
So, we’re people who care about NEAR, creating community and governance. We raised our hands early in the process to help, we will leave when the process of developing the frameworks for the NDC is complete. We are paid on bounties for completed work. @Matt wrote more about us and this topic in his first Friday Reflections.
2. TOXIC TALK COULD KILL US
People matter the most. Unfortunately, there are still a lot of aggressive, unproductive, and straight-up mean ways in which people engage each other.
What’s to gain by lashing out at each other on Near Social, here on the forum, or on TG threads? Not much. And, we get it – money was cut, crypto is getting a thrashing, and there’s confusion about what is going to happen here on NEAR. You’ve invested a lot. You’ve given a lot of yourself. It feels like you’re not appreciated – you’re upset, turned upside down, and seeing red.
But, lashing out, putting others down, and demeaning them only does the following:
- Alienates people from wanting to work with you
- Creates distrust that flows outward to all of NEAR
- Crushes people’s ideas, dreams, and sense of purpose
Toxic Talk makes you seem unreasonable, unkind, unprofessional, and at times deeply biased and offensive. It’s not worth it, really. It causes harm to people, harms collaborations, and the overall community. And, it will kill self-governance if we don’t get it under control.
We hear those who want to cut through the Toxic Talk loud and clear. So, we want to suggest the following to the community:
1. Shall we create a new, enforceable code of conduct? We took a stab HERE is a first draft for us to discuss.
2. We are going to host the Town Hall in March “Growth Hacking Our Toxic Talk”
- What are the key issues and TIPS for cutting through the Toxic Talk?
- It will be a Twitter Space, do you want to co-host it?
- Who should be the featured speakers? Those who have shown they can help others de-escalate, be mindful and keep their cool
- Do you want anti-bias education included?
3. Tell us what you want and think about Growth Hacking Our Toxic Talk in your universe. @Blaze just launched “Real Talk” on Near Social to start the conversation there.
3. THE WAY WE FUND IS CHANGING: BOTTOM-UP, NOT TOP DOWN
So, the NDC is being developed in a way so that it does not model or replicate the NEAR Foundation. We are two totally different initiatives, and this has always been the vision: to create a truly decentralized NEAR.
Yet, many of you believe that the new Community Treasury will fund “down” to projects. (largely because that’s what we are used to with the Near Foundation).
THIS IS NOT THE CASE! We are not going to be “Top Down”
The NEW process will be grassroots, bottoms up.
The NDC will be a constellation of communities that will form around the building, creating, communicating, and sharing. Decentralizing is a cool idea, though in practice it means ensuring we don’t centralize one leader, idea, or funding source.
Even though it’s not sexy, governance gives power to the people, the community, and to the ecosystem at large! It’s a lot to get your head around.
We’ve initiated WORKING GROUPS to start this process towards a totally iterative self-governance. Join the movement. Start or join a workgroup to solve our most challenging issues…Telegram: Join Group Chat
CONCLUSION
That’s it for this week. Please tell us BELOW what you think of these initiatives - Also - What’s on your mind? How can we support your leanings and involvement? What’s something we should keep in mind?
Best to you all -
Sarah
GWG Comms