Gatekeeping

Noun · Hacker Culture

Definitions

  1. The act of controlling access, legitimacy, or belonging in a way that excludes people unnecessarily or unfairly. In tech culture gatekeeping often appears in hiring, open-source communities, conferences, and expertise signaling.

    In plain English: Unfairly controlling who gets access, legitimacy, or belonging.

    Example: "The meetup organizers pushed back on gatekeeping by making beginner questions welcome instead of treating them as evidence that someone did not belong in the room."

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