Hackathons are for Hacking

So, I’m at MHacks right now. This hackathon is awesome, I love how much they emphasize a code of conduct and how everyone needs to treat each other well. Some people were saying, “man, this zero-tolerance policy is harsh” and “they made this sound really serious.” But you know what? It is serious. Here’s why.

I’ve sincerely enjoyed my time here so far. I’ve loved following the Twitter feeds about the event, seeing the fun Instagrams and interacting with people, and going through the giant Hackathon Hackers (HH) group of over 5,600 people.

And then something happened in HH.

Someone posted a poll asking, “Why do you go to hackathons?” Several people answered, “To improve my skills” or “To have fun” and even, “Taco Bell” and, “To find love.”

Then someone added, “To hit on chicks” to the poll. A couple votes followed. One guy commented, “I feel like that’s not an appropriate response,” and the one who added it said, “I feel like you should go f*** yourself.”

Nobody seemed to really react besides someone saying, “that’s not cool,” so I wrote a quick post about it saying that what happened there wasn’t acceptable.

And now, even as I write this, the post is exploding with over 150 comments. It’s not exploding in a way like I’d hoped, where people would say lovely things like, “you’re right, telling someone to ‘f*** off’ after they kindly say it’s not an appropriate response is a bad move! Let’s not do that anymore.” No no. It started out like that, and then it took a nosedive. Some of the comments include:

These stupid posts always end up on my newsfeed. I want to see cool new things. Not someone who is offended by the smallest thing they can find to get offended by

and

So someone should be booted for saying “to hit on chicks”… ? whhhat? Is this 1950 or.. Iraq? Get over it and get back to coding. Guys put themselves into scenarios to find a GF, some girls wear certain clothing to get attention. Welcome to life and you must have never been to a bar.

and

If your gonna complain about unprofessionalism, complain about Swaaaag, to find love, free food, taco bell, etc. Cant pick and choose what youre going to complain about if these all are inappropriate and unprofessional.

(because Taco Bell is the same thing as hitting on chicks, right?)

I don’t see what is wrong with it? It’s not sexist, it’s human. I mean it’s getting to the point where if you are heterosexual, you might as well just not tell anyone because you can only like people at hackathons if you’re gay. Flirting with a girl is obviously sexist. Everyone is going to hate me for saying this but all you feminists need to calm down and figure out what you want.

and

I’m just making a point because you all sound like some stuck up prudes who make it a huge deal to flirt with a chick. Its a part of life move on…

Anyway. A grand majority of the comments agreed that what happened isn’t ideal. And believe me, this is a pretty darn small thing compared to some of the issues I’ve personally dealt with, issues I’ve seen, and issues about which I’ve heard.

But COME ON. Why on earth is this a debate? I literally had multiple women message me saying, “I think you were right to post that,” and “Thank you for saying that, I was nervous to,” and “this is why I don’t go to hackathons.” Only one of all the people who messaged me commented on the post.

The fact that these women (and I’m sure there are others) aren’t comfortable enough to speak out themselves, go to hackathons, and generally feel welcomed by this community is not right. It’s not acceptable. I hate to reference this post by Tess Rinearson where even more women felt excluded in some way. These sorts of events should not happen.

The Hack Code Of Conduct is something that hackathons and hacking groups should implement and follow. It’s pretty straightforward: don’t be a jerk. Don’t tell people how to feel, or that they shouldn’t feel a certain way. If someone tells you that you made them uncomfortable, apologize, try to understand, and move on.

Hackathons are great for meeting people, sure. But hackathons are for hacking. Hackathons are not “a bar.” They are professional events, even in college, and anyone involved in the community should act as if they are. There is so much opportunity for greatness in this community, and everyone should be able to achieve it, and feel comfortable enough to do so.