All, I have been asked by multiple members of the PMC to restart a discussion on this mailing list that has been getting discussed on the private mailing list. I will simply start by stating my own take on the issue, as I do not want to misrepresent or overrepresent anyone else's views as already shared on that private mailing list. I would encourage those that already posted in the previous thread to re-share their input themselves.
A member of the community raised concern about some tweets that were made on Twitter through the handle @ASFbigtop about other organizations. It is clear from the discussion that some tweets from that account do not represent consensus among the Bigtop PMC. In my view, some of the tweets on that account have been factually incorrect, overly biased by the author's own affiliations and opinions, and they are harmful to the community. There is understandable disagreement about how to decide what should be tweeted in the name of the project in the future as drawing a line here is hard and none of us want bureaucracy for it's own sake. However I believe that given discussion so far, the burden to justify future tweets lies with the person or people who will make them. In general, I believe a Twitter account that bears the name of the project needs to be focused entirely on building community and advancing the project, and should not be controlled unchecked by a single individual or even just a portion of the community. There are certainly exceptions, but I would say that for the most part sarcasm, criticism and negativity has no place on that account, especially when it is so far from being a consensus of the entire community. For the sake of full disclosure regarding which "hat" I'm wearing - I am employed by one of the organizations that have been criticized, however I believe my comments are consistent with the principles that should underly an Apache community. I don't believe any of us can completely remove our own biases, but that is precisely why I think the tweets that have been discussed belong on personal accounts - so that even tweets that are considered factual by the author are understood in the context of who that author is. I would love for the project to have an active Twitter presence to congratulate contributors, interact with users, and advance the project. I have full respect for any member of this community who agrees or voices criticism of organizations with whom they disagree - I just don't think it belongs on the project's Twitter handle, and it certainly doesn't belong there when it doesn't really represent the project.
