[minikomi]

Hmm. That comment is brash, and perhaps intimidating to a beginner, but I wouldn't call it mean. "It makes my eyes bleed" or "it looks like an idiot wrote it" vs "badly written" (it also seems like a communication problem - his answer was badly written you might say).

[belorn]

brash and intimidating communities is clearly a factor when factoring in how user friendly something is, and how easy it is to join a community. What one might not think of however, is how that effect gender equality for a community.

That for me is a interesting insight to draw (through studies would be nice to confirm it).