On Mon, 12 Jun 1995, Kylie Matthews wrote:
> Claudia, these are some nice ideas and please don't abandon them.
Nice? I think Claudia's ideas contained a lot more substance than the
adjective "nice" might suggest... Nice is too often used in
statements like, "Oh, that's nice, but..." Translation of the "nice
statement..."I'll pretend that I really thought about what you had to say,
but, more importantly, let me say what I think."
> having said that I can see some problems. Telling people they will
have to learn
> and follow rules is very middle class and if the practical concerns don't
> stop the poorer from using internet this will.
I have two points to make here: 1) Is Kylie assuming that Claudia is/has
always been middle class and thus, concerned with fruitful communication
on the internet BECAUSE she is such? 2) I am not from a middle class
background, and I happen to find the idea of following/paying attention
to certain guidelines when communicating on line to be of utmost
importance. Suggesting certain ways of communication will not
necessarily drive people away from the internet. What Claudia posted
were, in fact, suggestions, meaning they are negotiable. Members of
internet communities can discuss various "rules" to be adopted. Main
thing, without certain guidelines there is absolutely no recourse
if/when an on line poster writes abusive, degrading, hostile, etc.
messages, now is there?
> Another point I must make time and again is - not everyone is from America.
I for one, have never assumed that everyone is from America. I don't
think that would be very ecofeminist of me, anyway. ;-)
> this means we have different norms, standards and ways of communicating. I
> recently received the most vitreolic abusive piece of mail privately, in
> response to something I posted publically. Anyone here in Australia would
> say that what I posted was reasonable. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
How can one know if EVERY person in Australia would find a particular
posting reasonable? Can one assume that all Australians have the same
communication style?
> We must be more tollerant of people. This is the year of tollerance. Let
> people blow off steam if they want and don't stifle debate. But if youre
> annoyed by someone post you annoyance to the list.
>
Blowing off steam, debating, discussing is fine. I am concerned,
however, that the above message is advocating only *certain* ways of
doing such at the same time it claims to be about something else...
> Lets have less rules and more tollerance.
Meaning write anything to anybody in any manner one sees fit?
Anne Henderson
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
P.S. This is still the ECOFEM list isn't it?
