I wrote: > > I have encouraged other lurkers and semi-lurkers to post their opinions > > also, but many are afraid of being flamed or just like their anonymity, >so > > I'm not sure how effective my arguments to them will be. > Dan replied: >Let me use this as an opportunity. As one of the top ten big mouths on the >list, I've always wondered about people who read the list but don't post. >I >find discussing things with folks here a lot of fun. But, I have a bit of >trouble understanding why people enjoy just reading what we write. > >I realize that I tend to like support for arguments. For example, when >there was a discussion of the time between new moons, I went and looked. >When Jeroen argued that he was sure that the Israeli media was full of >anti-Palestinian propaganda similar to anti-Semitic propaganda found in >Palestinian media I suggested he go look. > >Eileen suggested this is intellectual snobbery. She suggested earlier >(March 12th) that my posting on Kant and QM was "a pseudointellectual rant" >that drove lurkers deeper into silence. Thinking that I didn't want to >hurt >the list, I slowed my posting to a near stop, posting only twice in April. >(This compared to 14 posts in the first 12 days of March.) Instead of >finding that everyone else jumped into the space provided, I found that >posting dropped to low of 264 posts in April (compared to 391 in the first >12 days of March). > >But, I still wonder if I can make the list more hospitable to new posters >without giving up what I like about it. I know I won't let opinions like >"slavery had nothing to do with the War Between the States" go >unchallenged. >(I chose this example because I've heard this, but not on the list). But, >at the same time I'm more than willing to find new ways to be polite about >this so I can encourage long time listeners to become first time callers. >:-) > >Any suggestions or wisdom from your extensive network?
Well, first of all, I don't think I'd call the network "extensive" :-) Mostly, they are a group of people I met in a newsgroup a few years ago, and most of them were burned before as members of other lists and newsgroups, making an innocent post only to find their email boxes choked with hate mail. These are the majority of the "network" (we've never really had any name for ourselves). Also, there are a couple who are ... strong supporters of their own privacy, who don't want anyone getting their email address, street address, phone number, or any other piece of info that might generate junk email or telemarketing calls (don't ask how I got involved with them...). Some part-time posters/non-posters feel out of their intellectual league on the list. And some use the list as a source of info but simply don't have the time to get involved as an active participant in any more discussions than they are already in, or just can't stay current with the discussions. I suspect that a great many of our lurkers fall into that last category. I'm a semi-lurker because much of the time I just can't keep up with the huge volume of email on the list. A lot of the time, by the time I read a message it's several days old, and any comment I would make has either already been made or the thread has moved beyond the point where what I would say would have any currency. I've been making a concerted effort lately to stay more current, but sometimes it's really tough to find time for the list between work and family. Mostly I've been reading the list at work during down time, which there seems to be a lot of here lately. I think this list in general is very hospitable to new posters, it's just that some people will never be able to keep up with the volume of posts, some people are just shy, and some people simply enjoy lurking. Reggie Bautista [EMAIL PROTECTED] _________________________________________________________________ Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com
