Developing an Online Presence in Open Source Software:
Why it matters and how it affects communication and productivity

The anonymity of the online world grants people the power to create a new identity for themselves. Their real name, gender, race, and age may be hidden from others, as well as their location, any potential disabilities, and their full skillset. As communicating with an online user does not give you the ability to read body language or tone of voice, it is important to learn how to portray yourself in order to not hurt anyone, and to make meaningful connections online. In open source software (OSS) projects, most of the contributors are anonymous, known to people from only their username and maybe their style of writing. I argue that how you portray yourself online, specifically in OSS projects, affects effective communications and the level of productivity in terms of how people interact with you. In this post, we’ll discuss some basic tips on how to develop a successful online presence, and how your communications with others and productivity can rise by portraying yourself in such a way.

As basic as it may sound, the first step to creating an online presence is to choose a username. Your name or username is generally the first thing people learn about you, both in the real and digital world. It gives people a way to connect with you. If you are comfortable with it, consider using your real name, as that authenticity may be seen as professional and invite people to connect with you more easily. If you are not comfortable with using directly identifiable information, coming up with a good username is still important. There are infinite ways to create a name. Venture Beat, a site that hosts information on various topics of tech, has a reading that gives 10 tips to creating a good username. The top tips from this article include picking something unique and respectable, using correct spellings, and keeping it clean and simple. For example, I would much rather engage in conversation with someone named “LukeR22” or “FantasticFox” over someone named “BloodyEyes420” or “Assassin.” Looking at the variety of usernames that contributors of OSS projects use, as long as you pick something that is not offensive or too long, it is likely that you will be okay. Having a respectable and memorable username invites people to connect with you and thus raises the chances that you’ll have good communications.

The second factor, and arguably the most important thing, to consider while developing an online presence is relaying information concisely and clearly. According to Karl Fogel’s book, Producing Open Source Software, “The ability to write clearly is one of the most important skills one can have in an open source environment. In the long run it may matter more than programming talent.” Communicating effectively allows people to delegate tasks, solve problems, and share ideas, which boosts the overall productivity of the project. The way you communicate affects how people perceive you, so it is suggested that you at least user proper grammar and spelling to give the impression that you care about what you're communicating. To me, the two most important factors of effective communication are conciseness and clarity. Everyone is busy, and therefore, you are more likely to get help or a response to your initial communication if you are concise and clear. Take advantage of the nature of the internet and use formatting (such as bullet points and bold lettering) to quickly list key ideas and questions. People will appreciate the clarity of the information and will most likely be able to respond back to you quickly and efficiently.

The last factor you should consider while developing an effective online presence in OSS is to be consistent. Be consistent in your username across communication platforms, in your style of writing, and in the frequency of communications you put out. With the number of people on the internet, it may be difficult to stand out. However if you consistently put out ideas and continue to effectively communicate with others, other people such as project maintainers and frequent contributors will eventually come to know you. Additionally, as Amy Ko writes in her book Cooperative Software Development, “communication is a key part of team productivity, an individual’s productivity is as much determined by their ability to collaborate and communicate with other developers.” Therefore, being consistent with communication consequently allows a person to be more productive, while allowing others to get to know their skillset and interest in the project at hand.

So why does this all matter? With the digital world expanding, and the number of interactions of online users growing, it is important that we learn how to use the features of the internet to our advantage to maximize our communication and productivity. Communication has never been easier, so if we can effectively develop an online presence, we will be able to contribute to the amazing ideas and conversations that people all around the world are having regarding open source software.

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