Yes, the cf-talk list is definitely too big, and it's usefullness has
really diminished because of this. I don't think moderation is the key,
though. And I seldom have any problems with any of the content, even the
squalking. Some useful points can come out of even the silly arguments.
Ever see one of those threads where someone posts "Help Me Now!", then he
procedes to berate everyone offering suggestions that don't seem to suit
him? It's amazing how anyone could be such a dick, yet the insight into
using CF is the same as in any well-mannered thread.
I'd definitely suggest it's time to diversify the list into several. As
you say, topics would probably tend to be more on-topic. You'd have
different sets of people subscribed to the different lists, so you'd
probably see less traffic on the list server. What's more, you have more
meaningful discussions, since some people (me, certainly) feel reluctant
to prolong an interesting thread that's gone way off-topic.
A web based series of forums would be good (yeah, I know there's the
Allaire forums), even though many people are really tied into the mailing
list way of doing things. Wouldn't hurt for someone to try it out if
their web servers can handle the traffic.
Jim
-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Smith <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Thursday, July 27, 2000 5:11 PM
Subject: Re: CF-squawk?
>I sometimes thing cf-talk has become cf-squawk. How can we get back the
old friendly high info cf-talk list? ;-)
>
>Maybe we are talking about a moderated list?
>
>I know someone in the ASP communuity (Charles Carrol) who ran about 30
different moderated lists on ASP - for beginners, for SQL questions, for
install problems etc etc,. Some of the list had
>very low traffic but everything was on topic. This was a LOT of work for
him - I am not sure if it is still being kept up! ;-)
>
>Another way to look at this problem is to compare an on-line communuity
to a city growing in size. At first the group is small and everyone knows
everyone else. People are friendly. Then the
>list grows and you don't know everyone and some people say nothing and
just lurk - just as people on city streets don't say hello. Finally as
you have thousands of people it is like being in a
>big city - you don't know most people and people get rude because it is
anonymous.
>
>So what do people do in cities to get back to the village feeling? They
have rules and laws, they have schooling in certain subjects, they have
gated communuities.
>
>Maybe it is time for a better list than cf-talk. Perhaps a webbased
submission form with categories to pick from would help with subject
lines. Maybe kicking people off the list when they are
>rude - or banning their posts for a week. Maybe there could be a training
period before you could post. Maybe don't let people into a list unless
they are invited and vouched for by another
>member as CF Guru does.
>
>Ideas anyone?
>Thanks for listening.
>- Michael Smith, TeraTech http://www.cfconf.org/
> MDCFUG http://www.cfug-md.org/
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