A List Apart is a constant, valuable stream of informative, useful topics in making websites better. As such, it never comes as a surprise to me when the site hosts an interesting or insightful article about the literal act of building a website.

However, today ALA featured an article about good behavior on the web, Putting Our Hot Heads Together, which initially threw me just a bit. After all, what does behavior have to do with making a website?

As author Carolyn Wood of pixelingo (yes, that’s her ‘website’ that I’ve linked) shows us, quite a bit.

There’s definitely a difference between behavior on the web versus off it, with web conversations usually being of the less polite variety. In particular, impassioned discussions about topics that are dear to people, such as web development on a web developer’s blog, or a website like ALA that focuses on the industry, tend to get a bit… well… angry. Even politely phrased comments can be barbed with poison or sharp, angry wit.

One of Carolyn’s many points is that angry, inconsiderate conversations can be a major stumbling block in the progress of an industry, stating that by working as allies and not enemies we’re capable of achieving much more. It sounds almost sugar-coated when I put it like that, but I can’t help but feel it’s all too true.

I’ve seen how the conversations can get on my own blog, which isn’t surprising as I’ve come out swinging at times against products or companies that people strongly identify with. It definitely can be a downer when things get aggressive.

The idea of turning a commentary section into a brainstorming area, not a brawler’s arena, is a pretty obvious one. But it’s something that’s eluded a lot of us, myself included at times. I think anyone who likes to talk on the web should take a moment to read Carolyn’s article and think about not what we’re saying, but how and why we’re saying it.

It’s time for the 2008 “Survey for People Who Make Websites“, by A List Apart. The good people at ALA did the same thing last year, and the results they provided gave an informative, intriguing snapshot into the industry that I had at the time just recently had the joy to be making money in (instead of doing for kicks).

I’d like to point out how I enjoy ALA’s use of the phrase “People Who Make Websites”. It delightfully sidesteps the industry’s identity problem for multi-discipline people who wonder “am I a developer, a designer? An engineer?”

Regardless of what your business card says, if you make websites, go forth and be surveyed.

Now.